"People don't understand how much I wanted this championship. If I was to blame, why in Jerusalem did I want to come back?" • "Meeting? I was at Mony Panan's for two minutes, came to exchange money" • "They said I was closed in Maccabi, but two days later I signed in Penarbachcha" • A nostalgic interview with Radisav Curchich

• Korczyc in 1997. "I'll be visiting Israel soon"

  Photo: 

  Flash 90

Last month, only one thing concerned Radisab Curtich - how he brought his daughter Yuvana, who is studying in the US, to his native Serbia. The Corona crisis was becoming critical every minute, and in a moment's decision they were able to make it happen. " 90, "he says," if a few days passed, she couldn't leave. "Within hours, she left Orlando, where she spent the last four years, and after three connections, 23-year-old Jubana, who was born in Israel, to Serbia She has since completed her studies, and last week received her degree.

"Serbia is going through the crisis well. The country has made good decisions and learned from the mistakes of others," says Chora optimistically, but regarding Euroleague he is less optimistic, "I do not think they will play again, nor in football. You need to prepare for next season. Nothing will be as it was. " What is clear to him is that if the season does not resume - "Andalu Zero should be crowned champion, I have not seen such a dominant team in Euroleague long ago."

Since leaving Israel in 2002, Curticic has lived in Belgrade, where he has built himself in real estate. "For seven years I have not visited Israel. Every time I say that I will soon go and it does not come out to me. In the coming months I will be coming, ”he promises.

It's hard not to feel the difference between the troubled and emotional Chora who was on the hardwood and his contemporary lifestyle when he's 54. "Health, joy and quiet, that's what I want," he explains, but he quickly makes it clear that he continues to maintain the cut even though he is no longer About the hardwood: "Since I lost 25 pounds (in the mid-90s) I've been on the same weight."

Decrease for immigration

Who knew Chora in his first term in Maccabi Tel Aviv (1996-1994) did not recognize him when he returned to Hapoel Jerusalem in 1997, after a season in Turkish Izmir Tuborg. "I was 31, and the doctor said that with my back problems I have one more season , Max two, play basketball. At the end of my time in Maccabi and the summer before moving to Izmir, I lost significant weight and gave perhaps the best years of my career. Sometimes I wonder what could have happened if I had done it sooner. "

But even before that, in the 1992/93 season, Chora played in the Dallas uniform from the NBC, and the fact that he managed to remain in the best league in the world for just one season is considered to be his biggest career miss. "I broke my hand in a car accident, it was unlucky. At that time, European players had a harder time getting to the NBA, as opposed to today. If I were to reach today's league - I could be an 8-7 season player.

Why didn't you stay in basketball after you retired?

"I retired at the age of 37. I had plans to coach, but I told myself I'd take a rest year. By the end of this year, I needed another year and then I already lost the momentum. Anyone who wants to stay in basketball and go to training should do it immediately. If you wait - you lose. "No waiting for you, and it doesn't matter what player you were and what you did. Just forget about you. I could contribute a lot to basketball."

"I gave everything for Jerusalem"

Chora has also given big two years at Hapoel Jerusalem, but he knows well that he only remembers the ending. In the 1998/99 season, Effie Birnbaum's Reds reached the playoffs after a season when they lost just twice and with a home lead in the finals series against Maccabi Tel Aviv. On the opening day of the series, journalist Ron Kofman published in Haaretz newspaper that three days before the game, Chora visited his The former Maccabi Tel Aviv manager, the late Moni Panan. Whoever saw him there was a pizza deliveryman, who later coined the nickname "The Pizza Affair." The end, of course, is known - Maccabi won the series, and Jerusalem missed a historic opportunity for the championship.

Exactly 21 years have passed since the series opened, but Chora is still living it. "People don't realize how much I wanted this championship. Even after 20 years, I feel it. Taking Maccabi away from the championship was almost impossible then, and we could do it. All season I said to everyone: 'We can do it.' The heart, the soul and the body for this team. I had to have surgery that season and I didn't do it for the team. I wanted to give everything and I didn't care. "

Chora accepts responsibility, and knows that Penan, the opposing team's manager, should not have arrived before the opening of the finals: "I was wrong, but I didn't do anything dirty. All in all, I was there two minutes. I came to exchange money, people said I came to the meeting. What meeting? I was there for two minutes. When the pizza delivery messenger was down, I was down too. "

And because the news was posted you lost the championship?

"It's hard to determine, but it made an impact. The whole team was down. The pressure on us was great because we arrived after a great season and with the home advantage. The pressure increased even more. I was the MVP of the season and suddenly I pointed an accusing finger, so it certainly didn't help. "On the other hand, Maccabi knew how to take advantage of the situation. I know they will remember it for life, I know they do not forget it and call it the 'pizza affair'. I, in front of myself, know how much I wanted this title and how hard I worked for it."

They claimed you were in Maccabi.

"If that was true, then how two days after the season ended did I sign in Penerbacha? The Turks were interested in me in April, and I immediately said I didn't talk to anyone until the season ended. If I was guilty of something, why would Jerusalem want me to come back after two months in Turkey? I really wanted to come back, but I couldn't breach my contract. If they wanted me back, a sign that people there believed in me and trusted me. The fact that they contacted me made me feel good that people knew full well who I was. "

And another statement that Chora had to add when he recalled that season in Jerusalem: "If anything we were missing in the second season is Moti Daniel (left for Maccabi Rishon LeZion; SS). Excellent player, without ego, leader and also a good friend. With him we could Be a perfect team. "

"Abadia will be a big star"

At the end of the season in Turkey he returned to Israel for two years in Maccabi Tel Aviv and finished his career in 2002. One of his closest people throughout the years was Moni Panan, who ended his life in 2009: "I can't say one bad word about him. He was a good friend, gave his heart and took great care of me. I respect him very much. What was, was - he was a good man. "

What do you think of Maccabi's success and its bad years before?

"They had a good team, a long bench, good chemistry and a big star like Scottie Wilbkin. I really liked Tyler Dorsey. They had a good chance of getting to the Final Four. I think Danny Abadia should have had more minutes. He's going to be a big star in the NBA. No, even though two years in Europe could have promoted it more, however, I do not understand what happened to Maccabi in previous years.With such a budget, audience and name like hers, Maccabi should be every season in the Final Four or at least in the playoffs, otherwise it is unthinkable "Coach Janis Spropoulos brought the change."