By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
When the legendary icons of Yugoslavian basketball come to everyone’s mind, Zeljko Obradovic must be included in the picture. Looking back at his success when coaching national teams, he has collected several winning experiences.
Now back in Partizan Belgrade for his second stint with the black-and-white club since 2021, the 64-year-old head coach said he won’t be making a comeback to coach his country’s national team.
Interviewed by Partizan TV on the matter, he explained his decision. “I think it is impossible for me to return to the Serbian national team, we closed that book in 2005. Of course, there are people in the Serbian Basketball Federation to who I am close, especially president Sasha Danilovic”, he opened.
“[Sasha] Danilovic is one of my former students, and whenever there’s a new page for the national team, he always asks about my situation. My answer is always: “Sasha, you know what I will say”. On the other hand, I am always ready to help the Serbian national team with my ideas”, Obradovic continued.
Svetislav Pesic is now the one in charge of the Serbian national team’s bench, and in two years he brought one silver medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the bronze medal at this year’s Olympics. “Coach [Svetislav] Pesic and I are on very good terms, you can ask him about that too”, he followed.
With the Yugoslavian national team, Zeljko Obradovic won the silver medal as a coach at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the gold medal at the 1998 World Cup, and two medals (gold in Spain 1997, bronze in France 1999) at EuroBasket. He first coached the team from 1996 to 2000, and then returned to coach Serbia-Montenegro in 2004-05, leaving after a disappointing EuroBasket at home.