By Drazen Kanazir/ info@eurohoops.net
Belgrade – Some people are just likable and even if they are legends, they can open up and say the biggest truths in the simplest possible way.
And Zarko Paspalj, a basketball icon of the Yugoslavian national team, a trailblazer as a member of the San Antonio Spurs back in 1989 and then a star in Europe, playing for Olympiacos and Panathinaikos among others, doesn’t hide behind words.
“I just don’t like the way the things are handled right now in Europe, the relationship between FIBA and EuroLeague“, said Paspalj. “This problem creates lots and lots of trouble for the teams, the national teams and I just hope that it will come to an end. This is not the way to treat basketball which is our bread and our life“.
And according to Paspalj, this has to change, because in the current environment European talent is leaving for the NBA, without Europe getting much in return: “It’s like we are a nest of kittens, puppies and small pets and we are sending them in the States. It has to be some kind of equality on this and I don’t that that Europe is achieving the level of organization that we should have“.
Watch the whole interview and what Zarko had to say about the Basketball Without Border camp, his playing days in the NBA and Europe, Gregg Popovich – “He is a friend of mine and that word alone says a lot” – and the future of the Serbian national team, for which he expects two great years leading to the FIBA World Cup.