101 Greats of European Basketball

two marriages. He lives in Belgrade with his dog and
writes books. He is a left-wing man with high morals,
loyal to his ideas and his rebel character. He stays away
from basketball and from time to time he appears on TV
defending his ideas, regardless of the consequences.
Everybody can have his own opinion about the
things that Simonovic stands for, but those who remember
him don’t have a doubt that he was one of the
greats on the basketball court.
Ljubodrag Simonovic
while Juan Antonio Samaranch was a “Franco supporter
with a fascist past.” Because of his character and
speaking his mind, Simonovic had a lot of problems everywhere
he worked. In Norway, he was fired because
he told his students that Sonja Henie, a national hero in
figure skating, “danced the tango with Hitler.” In Yugoslavia,
he was not able to find a job.
In an interview, Simonovic admitted that his dog
“lived better than him because some neighbors threw
some bones to him.” For some years now, he has been
doing a little better because, as a world champion, he
has a national pension. Simonovic has three sons from
101 greats of european basketball
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