By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With the “Dark Tower” of Stephen King being adapted into a movie, it’s time to speak with the Euroleague expert on the matter, Panathinaikos Miroslav Raduljica.
The Serbian center is a fan of the series, has a Dark Tower tattoo and while he is also the tower of the Greens, he likes to thing of himself as a gunslinger, the protagonist from this epic King’s work. He is fearsome, but also has an opinion on this material and he was ready to chat with Eurohoops for this matter.
What’s your favorite Stephen King book?
“It’s the Dark Tower series of seven books. It’s his best book, he often says that too. It’s his biggest and best book cause he wrote it since 1974 until 2004, so… I even got a tattoo of it. That’s how I am impressed with it”.
Do you like the Marvel comics version of the Dark Tower?
“I didn’t have time to buy it, I tried to via the internet, I would like to have it. I have seen it in some websites and it’s really great”.
What’s your connection with the saga of the Dark Tower? Why did you chose it over other Stephen King books which are already adapted to movies and are more famous?
“The connection started when I was younger. I got the first book ten years ago, maybe even more. I read the first book and it’s about the gunslinger, so I always loved western movies, spaghetti westerns, the lonely cowboys or the lonely gunslingers. He mixed all that with his other elements of writing, science fiction, the element of fantastic. I guess he was also pulling some things from the real life, some critics of the society, it was everything together so I really liked that, but most of all I liked the main character”.
Do you feel like a gunslinger?
“Sometimes I do”.
And what’s you pack of gunslingers?
“My best friends and my brother”
Do we have to include Milos?
“Milos who?”
Teodosic…
“Maybe he is going to show up in the second or third book…”
Raduljica’s wish
With Panathinaikos being on course for the Euroleague playoffs, Raduljica hopes that he will finally find a home in Athens and this season will be the start of something bigger. After a career that included stops in the NBA, China, Turkey and of course his native Serbia, Panathinaikos might be his new base.
As he admitted: “Sometimes it’s very hard to change timezones, countries, languages, always my things are in bags. I don’t have time to rest, or… I often say my life fits in two bags. So I would love to stay in one place, be part of something for two seasons, three seasons, so I would not need to pack my bags and go home”
And you can’t speak with Raduljica without mentioning his “beard quote” about James Harden back in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
He insists that his beard is better than his: “Yes I said that, because I am a bigger guy. I think it fits me better than James. Let’s say he started it first, his beard is the most famous in the basketball world, but I have a bigger head, I am a bigger guy and my beard is bigger and better”.
And don’t expect him to shave it, if Panathinaikos wins a title: “It’s not a thing of winning, I am not keeping it because of that. It’s just my state of mind right now and maybe I will decide to change my image”.