A bust of Aleksandar Nikolić was unveiled today in the Belgrade arena, named after the former basketball player and coach.
The bust, located at the official entrance to the arena, was unveiled by the President of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, Božidar Maljković, Partizan basketball coach Željko Obradović, and Aleksandar Nikolić’s daughter, Dubravka.
The event was also attended by the Minister of Sports in the Government of Serbia, Zoran Gajić; the State Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Marko Kešelj; the Vice President of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, Žarko Zečević; the President of the Serbian Basketball Federation, Nebojša Čović, and the Vice President of the Serbian Basketball Federation, Nenad Krstić.
Nikolić was born on October 28, 1924, and died on March 12, 2000.
Maljković said that the bust was made by academic sculptor and professor Miroljub Stamenković.
“In former Yugoslavia, you couldn’t find a person who wouldn’t speak highly of the professor. He was a man who helped us all and made us better; that’s why I called him the patriarch of our basketball and Ranka Žeravica Dossitej. We were good friends; I learned basketball from him, just like Željko Obradović; he helped us to form ourselves both as people and as coaches; we grew into two modest and honest coaches,” said Maljković.
The President of the OCS reminded that the former Pionir Hall has been named after Aleksandar Nikolić since 2016.
“‘Profa’ actually studied medicine and therefore had an advantage over us from the street, and he knew the physiology and anatomy very well; he knew how to recover a player. He was a born coach, and what is very important is that he was a focused coach and a craftsman. I am extremely proud that two halls in Belgrade bear the names of two great basketball players; it is the only city in the world that has that. I fought for 15 years for the hall to bear his name. After a conversation in 2016 with then Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, it was resolved in a few days,” said Maljković.
Gajić emphasized that for him, the first association with Aleksandar Nikolić is that he was a teacher and educator from whom a lot could be learned.
“I was lucky enough to have Professor Nikolić teach me basketball in 1979/80 at the Faculty of Physical Education in my third year. I have a notebook and everything written down, including how he explained the attack, defense, transition, and connecting training; he paid great attention to methodology. Thank you to everyone who made this happen and immortalized him,” said Gajić.
Obradović said that Nikolić is the most important person in the history of Serbian and Yugoslav basketball.
“Our dear professor, the least he could deserve is for the hall to be named after him and the bust which he received today. He influenced me to change my thinking about basketball. I went to his lectures at the Faculty of Physical Education; I told him that I wanted to be a coach. Dragan Kićanović and I managed to persuade him in 1992 to come and collaborate with me. He said he wouldn’t be an advisor but that I should address him as if he were my assistant coach. In a year, it happened that I only came to training once before him, even two hours earlier when I came; he influenced me as a coach, a person, and a personality,” said the Partizan basketball coach.
Dubravka Nikolić thanked the OCS for their great help in making this bust, the City of Belgrade, and SC Tašmajdan.
“Thanks to Maljković, we gathered today to unveil this bust, they were long-time collaborators, and later friends. Thank you to Obradović, who, despite his obligations with Partizan, managed to come, with the same club with which he and my father became European champions in 1992. Good things that people achieve are not forgotten so easily, thank you for coming and making this day special,” said Nikolić.
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Source: Telegraf.rs
Photo: Olimpijski komitet Srbije