Dusan Ivkovic, who died in 2021, was one of the greatest legends of European coaching. The only coach in history to have won the four major European competitions (Euroleague, EuroCup, Saporta and Korac), he had also enjoyed success on the international circuit, as coach of Yugoslavia, then of Serbia, with a championship of world (in 1990), three European Championships (1989, 1991 and 1995), and two silver medals at the Olympic Games (1988 as head coach, and 1996 as assistant).
Highly respected in the United States, and particularly close to Gregg Popovich, he was not far from becoming the first European coach to take charge of an NBA franchise. In 2002, the Nuggets wanted to recruit him, with a three-year contract, the first as an assistant, the last two as head coach.
A call too late from the Nuggets
But Kiki Vandeweghe, the GM of the Nuggets at the time, called him a little too late and Dusan Ivkovic, who had given his word to CSKA Moscow, did not want to go back on it.
A few years later, it was Golden State which inquired about the Serbian technician, as his American agent, Bill Duffy, explains today, in an interview with Serbian media Sportal.
“We tried to help Ivkovic come to Golden State. At one point, many years ago, Chris Mullin was the GM (of the Warriors) and we had a meeting in Miami to help Coach Ivkovic.”he revealed. “But it didn’t work, due to a question of timing. »
Chris Mullin having been GM in the Bay from 2004 to 2009, we can think that Dusan Ivkovic was approached in 2004, when the club was looking for the successor to Eric Musselman, or in 2006, when Golden State had to find who would take the place of Mike Montgomery. Ultimately, the position was then given to Don Nelson.
Bill Duffy’s regrets
In 2004, Dusan Ivkovic was then coach/GM of powerful CSKA Msocou, while in 2006, he had just joined rival Dynamo Moscow, leading the club to the ULEB Cup title.
“Too bad, because I thought it would have been fantastic” continues Bill Duffy. “He was very dignified, brilliant, with excellent communication skills and he was very respected. It was my dream to see Ivkovic become a coach in America. I know he died. May he rest in peace. We loved him very much. »
For the agent of Luka Doncic, RJ Barrett, Nikola Vucevic, Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons, Scottie Barnes and Chet Holmgren, not having managed to place Dusan Ivkovic on an NBA bench is a real regret.
“I always saw him as a wise man. A bit like John Wooden. He’s like the Godfather. A wise man. He always had intelligent things to say. We learned from him. I spent a lot of time with him. If I went to Europe, I went to his place. We had lunch together. He was very grateful that we tried to connect him with the NBA world. It was many years ago. I would have liked this to happen. »
