Milos Theodosic is learning in the last months that time takes its course and the status is not what it was.
It started with the shock when he was suspended from the Serbian squad for Eurobasket in the summer, and continued at Virtus Bologna with the loss of the place in the top five, an injury, a short removal from the courts, a decrease in minutes and a drop in numbers.
The Serbian superstar in the "middle age of basketball players" crisis.
However, as you will see later, this is definitely not his last dance.
The coach of the Serbian national team, Svetislav Psic, stunned when he dismissed him from the team.
Psich decided that it was better to have one less big ego, and for this ego it was a severe image blow.
"I told him directly that I could not give him the status and place he had before in the national team. He was never a bench player," said the coach and passed the baton of leadership to Vasilija Micic.
And that was the beginning of adapting to the new status.
The 35-year-old "Theo" returned to the Euroleague this season for the first time since 2017, and the difference is huge: last time he was one of the biggest players in the Euroleague;
Today he mainly tries to survive and adapt.
Teodosic in front of Panini in 2014, photo: EPA
These are not easy days for the actor.
He is usually not a top five player, playing only 15 minutes and scoring 8 points.
The speed is not what it used to be, the defense was never there, but the immense talent is still there, and his coach Sergio Scariolo continues to trust him: "He sees things on the field before they even happen. He stepped ahead of everyone and can still make big moves."
The Italian journalist Mirco Maloni from "Totosport" says: "He is not the player who was in Olympiakos and CSKA, but it is still difficult to find an attractive moral from him."
Despite the decrease in ability on the field, it is not noticeable at all in the stands.
Teodosic's relationship with Virtus fans is a love story.
In his fourth season with the team, the Serbian center back is a symbol for the crowd in Bologna.
For them he is the player who changed the club.
"Milos represents the great comeback of Bologna to the top of basketball after almost 20 years," Maloney explains.
"He was the first big star to sign when the comeback was just being planned, thus opening the door for many great players to come and for a coach like Scariolo. That's why he is considered above all as the one who brought the team back to the Euroleague this season."
Teodosic in the Clippers uniform.
A short novel in the NBA, photo: Getty Images
A look at Teodosic's career reveals a great contrast.
He may be the greatest pure talent in Europe for about a decade and a half, but his title chart is not up to par.
His teams were often suffocated at the moment of truth, and as soon as it happened, the eyes were turned to him first.
The most prominent example: he qualified for the Final Four with CSKA six times, but won the title only once. Another example in the national team: never at the top of the podium. Only silver medals in EuroBasket, MundoBasket and the Olympic tournament. Even when he tried in the NBA it didn't work. He had Much more talent than describes.
If it ends like this, we will remember the talent more than the achievements, but the thing is that it is not before the end.
There will be another episode.
The direction is to close a circle back home to Serbia, probably in the Red Star Belgrade.
It was already on the agenda last summer, but Virtus refused to let him go.
It should happen this summer, and then we'll see if the magician has any more tricks up his sleeve.
In the meantime, he will try to record one last great achievement with his current team, and for that he needs to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv this evening.
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