The miraculous life story of Nemanja Bjelica! Here's how he went from talentless to one of the best players in Europe!
Bjelica is currently on the top of European basketball, but the path to that glory was not an easy one
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However, it was not always so great for one of Serbia's best players.
Nemanja grew up in New Belgrade's Block 70. He played basketball in the blocks. At the age of seven he started to train at the Partizan basketball school in elementary school "20 October". His late coach Aca Janjic realized the potential of Bjelica and one of his friends and reassigned them in the "87 generation". Aca Janjic influenced Bjelica greatly, and Bjelic believes Janjic to be one of the best coaches for young players.
Shortly afterwards, problems started. The club did not believe that Bjelica's knees hurt, and thought he was faking it. Although he was considered one of the best young players in the former Yugoslavia, his generation was pushed aside.
The club did not pay their participation in the quality junior league. They were playing with local clubs before the generation was officially disbanded.
The por situation in the junior teams of Partizan cost Bjelica his chance to play in the junior teams of the Serbian national team. He was only on the preliminary list for representative junior championship in Maine once but was dropped from the list before the championship.
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- What can I say, it was hard not being in those categories. However, I had to continue to work and train. I had great support from my family, especially from my father, who encouraged me and I continued to work - Bjelica said in an interview that he gave for Telegraf.
After the younger selections of Partizan, Bjelica, with his best friend Sava Lesic went to Superfund. There he stayed for two years, during which he began to cooperate with the current manager Bojan Tanjević. Tanjević first brought him to Rimini, but it didn't go as planned. He stayed for only two or three months, after which he left for Austria. The next year he played for Arkadia.
- Still, when I'm nervous after a match, I just remember how it was like six or seven years ago. That makes me calm. I remain silent and do not speak. To be in Austria at 18, for a young player is not at all bad. There are plenty of Americans and I never understood why they are there. The champions league is based on individual quality, less on tact - said Bjelica on one occasion.
Then everything changed. Bjelica noticed the new coach of Red Star, Svetislav Pesic. Nemanja then returned from Austria to Serbia. Pesic gave him a prominent role in Red Star. Bjelica, played point guard for 15 minutes when necessary. He got a chance to resolve the latest attack against Partizan in the final of the play-offs. He was only 20 years old. Then, both physically and mentally matured.
- No one would have ever heard of me had there been no Pesic, I probably would have stayed an average triplet or plain player. He gave me a chance, directed me down the right path and believed in me - said Bjelica for Telegraf, adding that he owes most of his career to Pesic and that he would not be where he is had he not spent that year in the stars.
After Red Star, Bjelica was transferred to Tau Ceramica, where he initially had a hard time. Later, he started to get minutes with coach Dusko Ivanovic, who helped him settle in the place of the famous Spanish club. After three seasons he became one of the leaders of the team from Vitoria. His time in Spain was beneficial, both personally and professionally. He became a recognizable name in European basketball and one of the pillars of the national team of Serbia. In Vitoria, he made some new friends. In the beginning, he spent most of his time with Dejan Musli. Later he became friends with Mirza Teletović, Stanko Barac, Milko Bjelica and French playmaker Thomas Ertel.
The new wave in European basketball, which began several years ago provided an opportunity for Bjelica to reach the very top of European basketball. But, initiative of the Turkish club brought it to the top and new investments allowed our experts a place in their basketball. When Zeljko Obradovic took over Fenerbahce he immediately brought Bjelica over. After only two seasons he became MVP of the Euroleague. In the last season of the elite European club competition, he recorded 12.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Excellent game in Fener and the title of MVP of the season drew attention to the Timberwolves, who decided to sign a contract with Bjelica for 3 years worth 11.7 million dollars.
Bjelica married his girlfriend Mirjana in 2010, followed by the birth of his daugther Nika a year later. A few months ago he received a son.