101 Greats of European Basketball

I am very proud of having been able to take him to
Madrid in October 2000 for the inaugural game of the
new EuroLeague between Real Madrid and Olympiacos.
Delibasic was a golden guest at the event and received
a standing ovation from the Real Madrid fans. His son
Danko, then 15 years old, was with him and experienced
it all with wide eyes. What he had heard before that, that
his father was a Real Madrid legend, was more than a reality.
That was Delibasic’s last visit to his beloved Madrid.
He died in Sarajevo on December 8, 2001.
But the legend of the last romantic of European basketball
remained.
In August 1983, basketball bid farewell to the “last
romantic” as Delibasic was forced to retire. Nobody understood
the game like he did – as a perfect mixture of
sports, competition, passion, beauty and, in some way,
art. His main weapon was elegance and meaningful –
but always beautiful – moves.
Aside from the illness that took him away from the
courts too soon, Mirza lived the last years of his life
under tough conditions. The war in Bosnia caught him
in Sarajevo and he never wanted to leave the city. He
stayed with his family and friends, suffering like the rest.
He was the national team coach and after that a sports
director for Bosnia-Herzegovina. With his melancholic
look and his philosophy that “you only live once,” Delibasic
did not look after himself much. His health went
from bad to worse, but Delibasic lived the life he chose.
Mirza Delibasic
101 greats of european basketball
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