Sports » Sport | 103 The only Serbs to have earned an NBA ring to date are Darko Miličić, Predrag Stojaković and Ognjen Kuzmić, but none of them achieved the status of amegastar likeJokić.Dubbed“the playmaker in the body of a center” because of his incredible ability to provide assists, he is a veritablemachine for triple-doubledeeds andthe franchise’s top man. In this year’s play-offs he’s averaged 25.7 points, nine rebounds and 5.3 assists per match, but much more important than that is his ability to scorewhen no one else can. is guy fromSombor hit a shot to win just 30 seconds before the end of the seventh matchof the series against theUtah Jazz! He managed to drive over the league’s topdefender, RudyGobert, and then threwa “cake” for great joy. And this move spent days circulating on all NBA channels. It is because of himspeci cally thatmanybelieveDenver could secure a place in the nals, which beginon30th September, thoughthere are, of course, stillmanyunknowns until then. eNuggets celebrated in three consecutive matches and thusbookedtheirplace inthe nals of theWestern Conference, where theywere awaitedby theLALakers andLeBronJames.At the time that this issue goes to print the team from the City of Angels is leading 2-0. Both matches were won after dramatic nal moments and mistakes made by referees and Denver‘s players. ese two teams also competed in the conference nals of 2009, when LA won 4-2. In the east,Miami andBostonwill be seekingfour seriesvictoriesandaplace in the nals, and thesematches couldbemarkedby another guywith roots inour country, GoranDragić. But why is it still so important to win a ring? It‘s because it represents more than glory in one league. Testifying to this is the fact that the American champions are referred to as world champions, alluding to the claim that no team on the planet is better than them. Players who haven‘t won a championship ringnever enter the ranks of the greatest, despitebeing worthy of that in terms of quality. After all, just consider how that‘s dealt with by legends like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller or Steve Nash. e most rings have beenwonby Bill Russell, who secured as many as 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, of the total of 17 ever secured by this most successful club in the U.S. e only team that comes close to the Boston out t is the LA Lakers, which has won16 titles, but only over the course of as many as 31 campaigns in the NBA nals! It became clear this year that theNBAhasoutgrownmerelysporting issues, with theplayers having become active in the “Black Lives Matter” movement. After the killing of George Floyd, they found themselves on the streets, and after the police shot and wounded Jacob Blake inMilwaukee, theMilwaukee boycott began and lasted for 24 hours. African-American players want to raise awareness about the position of their compatriots in the U.S., bothwith their words and their deeds. e league allowed all players towrite one of 144 messages on their jersey in anyworldlanguage(BogdanBogdanovićwore theword sloboda [freedom] on his shirt), and this year‘s championship also means victory over injustice, oppression, abuse, but also resistance against the virus that has paralysed the planet. e battle of titans and great men under the hoops! Dirk Novicki je slavljen kao jedan od najvećih svih vremena Dirk Nowitzki was hailed as one of the all-time greats Igrači Los Anđeles Klipersa se brane od Nikole Jokića Los Angeles Clippers players defend against Nikola Jokić
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