Duda Ivkovic retired!

Legendary Serbian basketball coach Dusan Ivkovic, one of the experts with most trophies in the history of this sport, announced today that he ends his coaching career. 

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- The job of a coach requires to make important and often hard decisions. But, when your job is in the same time your great live, its challenges are taken with ease, no matter how demanding they may be. That's why i never felt stress in these decades but only great passion.

- My last decision as a coach, to retire is logical, rational and equally hard as well as any other i made during my career - said Ivkovic to his letter delivered to Tanjug.

Nevertheless, as he said, he must admit that this decision was significantly more emotional than the previous ones.

- Basketball and coach calling were never a part of my life, they were actually my life. It was a relationship of constant mutual giving. I gave myself to basketball, and it shaped my life in the most beautiful way. From the first day when i was introduced to its magical world by my brother Piva in our Red Cross, where were started learning its secrets together with the immeasurable support from our family and friends, and up until today, when I close a chapter of my life with basketball.

Ivkovic adds that the beauty of coaching reflects in creativity, and creativity is not just wining trophies.

- That is why, in some moment, when i look behind me, i want to thank all of my associates, and especially players for the respect, trust and inspiration they showed me. It was always strange to me to say that i made some player or a coach. I just gave them a chance, and they took it, giving their best. I thank them for that.

Foto: V. Stolis/eurohoops.net

Legendary Duda said that the farewell from the coaching job is not a goodbye from basketball.

- I don't want to and i will never be able to say goodbye to basketball. Only the way i live with it will change. Official goodbye is planed on the big humanitarian game, which will be organised next summer with the get-together of many coaches and players with whom i worked during my career - concluded Ivkovic.

Foto: Milena Đorđević

Ivkovic is 72 years old and he spent his entire career as a player in Radnicki, and as a coach in Partizan, Aris, Radnicki, Sibenka, Vojvodina, PAOK, Panionis, Olimpiakos, AEK and Moscow CSKA, Dinamo, and finally in EFes.

He was a selector of both Yugoslavia and Serbia.

Foto: AP/Tanjug

TROPHIES 

In his club career he won 20 trophies, 2 from Euro league with Olimpiakos, as a selector of Yugoslavia and Serbia Olympic silver from Seoul 1988, World championship from Argentina 1990, three gold from European championships (1989, 1991, 1995) and two silvers (1999, 2009).

As an adviser and assistant he has a silver from Olympics on Atlanta 1996, gold from World championship 1998, bronze 1986, gold from European championship 1997 and bronze 1987.

Foto: MNPress

(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)