One of the European basketball coaching legends passed away yesterday.
But heavy rain fell on Serbian basketball upon learning of the death of Dusan Ivkovic at the age of 77 (next month he was supposed to be 78).
Ivkovic was one of the greatest coaches on the continent, and in the eyes of quite a few the greatest of them all.
He coached for four decades and won every possible degree in both teams and national teams.
He raised quite a few players and was a father figure to coaches.
He was the teacher and rabbi of Zelimir Oberdovich, his spiritual father and in fact served as his mentor.
He was known as a tough coach, one who would not let anyone interfere with his work.
This was not Oberdovich's tumultuous rigidity on the lines, Ivkovic was portrayed as a gentleman.
Despite his character, he served as a father figure to the actors, and for some even built his career.
"Basketball was not a part of my life, it was my whole life," the coach wrote in his farewell letter to basketball in 2016.
The retirement from the lines came after the only time in his long career that he was fired.
It happened towards the end of his second season at Anadolu and precisely after a loss to Oberdovic.
Was great, even when he lost
Everyone knew him by the nickname "Auntie."
Always tailored, reserved and elegant, and his great hobby was raising pigeons.
Class.
His resume contains more than 20 degrees.
He has coached 12 teams in five countries.
He started coaching at the age of 25 in Radnicki's youth department where he played.
In 1978 he joined the Belgrade partisan and had already begun raking in titles, during which time he brought the club a championship, a trophy and a win in the Korach Cup - the first of five European titles he has won.
His second home after Serbia was Greece, where he coached 11 seasons in five teams: Pauk and Aris Thessaloniki, AEK Athens, Panionios and Olympiacos.
His two terms at Olympicus showed his greatness.
He won with her twice in the Euroleague by 15 years.
Is there anything that shows more long-term relevance than that?
Along with the success in the teams, "Auntie" was a great symbol in the coaching of the Yugoslav team and later in the Serbian team.
He coached it for three terms and won the world championship, three European championships and an Olympic silver medal.
It is worth dwelling on two important points in his career in which he did not win the title.
In 2005 he coached CSKA Moscow, with whom he recorded a big Euroleague season with a lone loss when he had the Final Four at home, in Moscow. It was there that he failed in the semi-final against Vitoria after a big surprise. The pegs that made it a European empire to this day.
And to the opposite surprise.
In 2009, as coach of the Serbian national team, he took on a group of young players who, contrary to all expectations, reached the final of the European Championship, when for the first time the keys were awarded to Milos Theodosic.
It was another place where we saw his ability to develop young people, even though he was already approaching the age of 70.
He was inducted into the Fiba Hall of Fame in 2017. The Euroleague general manager, Jordi Bartomeu, described him as "the coach who has influenced European basketball more than any other coach."
It cannot be contradicted.
