Dusan Ivkovic was honoured tonight as his All-Star slept side beat Olympiacos 111-103 in Piraeus but the true touch of class beyond all came from coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Olympiacos coach called Ivkovic over and offered the Serbian playcaller one final opportunity to coach the Greek side for whom he guided to EuroLeague glory in 2012.
“He told us, let’s go win this game,” said Vassilis Spanoulis, just like they did in the epic night in Istanbul back in 2012. It was simple, but not effective in the end.
But regardless of the team talk that didn’t come to reality, the night was all about Ivkovic and his legendary coaching that spans nearly four decades.
Two EuroLeague titles, a EuroCup win, domestic crowns in Russia, Greece and Turkey all included in 20 championships captured overall, plus stints with the Serbian national team where he led the team on a voluntary basis at Eurobasket 2013, shows his commitment to the cause and passion for the game.
And that’s why he’s respected all over the globe. This is why he was honoured the way he was tonight.
He is a father to all of us in sports,” said Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic during a speech on court.
