By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA is not a part of the Euroleague, but the Moscow club still has high-level players like Nikola Milutinov or Alexey Shved, a former NBA player who is one of the most popular players in Russia.
He started his career in 2006 at CSKA. During the next 17 years, he played in only two countries, Russia and the United States of America. He spent three years in the NBA defending the colors of Minnesota, Philadelphia, Houston, and the New York Knicks. However, Moscow is his home, where he played in CSKA, for Dinamo and Khimki. He returned to the club where he started his career in 2021.
Regardless of decades of experience in an interview for Mozzart Sport, he reveals that he still has a rigorous work system to keep in shape.
“I invested a lot in my body to play at a high level even at this age. I have a routine that I don’t deviate from, I’m in the gym every day, and I’m working on something, especially maintaining my physical fitness. I feel good on the court. I’m sorry that we are not playing in the Euroleague this season, but I think that the VTB league with several teams is extremely strong, it is enough for the fans to just look at the names that are in CSKA, Zenit, Unics, and other teams as well“.
He continued to talk about his team.
“The club works at a high level, it is still elite in Europe. We have great players like Nikola Milutinov and Dejan Davidovac, my great friends, now I won’t see them for a few days, they went to help the Serbian national team, I will support them, and I love Serbia in general. I am connected to that country through an agent, I came often, Belgrade is beautiful, people are always friendly, they always accepted me, and basketball… so what can I say about the basketball fans in Serbia, the best in the world“.
As he himself points out, he especially remembers the clashes with Partizan that he had in the Euroleague when he played for CSKA in his first term from 2006 to 2012.
“I have often stated this over the years and I think the same to this day, the Euroleague atmosphere in Belgrade is something special. I played against Partizan quite a few times and I still remember that experience from the stands. I really liked playing in Belgrade, everyone shouts, and everyone cheers. It is necessary to experience it as a basketball player“.
If fate had been a bit different, maybe he would have spent those years in a Partizan jersey.
“I remember I was 18 or maybe 19 years old, I heard that coach Dusko Vujosevic wanted me in his team. Partizan even started the process of bringing me, but it didn’t happen. Then I was part of CSKA, they didn’t want to let me go and that was it. It didn’t happen, something similar to what happened with Andrei Kirilenko, I know that he was also very close to Partizan, I think he was even closer than me, he had a contract, but he went to the NBA. Things like that happen during a career.”
He used to share the floor with one of the best European playmakers in Milos Teodosic, now he shares with one of the best centers in Nikola Milutinov.
“One of the best? He is the best! He is not only a center who plays with strength, he can shoot, he always passes the ball at the right moment, he reads the game, and he has everything needed for modern basketball. It is easy to play next to him, that is perhaps his greatest quality, that it is easier for everyone in the team to play when he is on the court“.
Finally, he gave a clear answer as to whether Nikola Milutinov can follow in his footsteps – to go to the NBA league, where the San Antonio Spurs drafted him back in 2015.
“There is no doubt that he can play in the NBA. However, he is a grown-up guy, smart, he makes his own decisions, and I think that in the future he will make the decisions that are best for him,” Šved finished the conversation for our portal, while once again a long line for pictures and autographs formed“.