101 Greats of European Basketball

played at his usual level, with 12 points and 8 rebounds
in 35 minutes. The following season, CSKA would play
the final once again against Panathinaikos in Athens.
In an unforgettable game, Panathinaikos won by just
2 points, 93-91, despite another great Smodis performance:
18 points and 3 rebounds.
The following season, during the celebration of the
50th Anniversary of European competition in Madrid,
Smodis would lift his third EuroLeague title. The victim
was, once more, Maccabi (91-77) as Smodis had 13
points and 5 rebounds in the final. Before the start of
the 2008-09 season, Smodis was named the captain of
the CSKA team, becoming the first non-Russian player
ever to be given that honor. He played the EuroLeague
title game again in Berlin in 2009, but Panathinaikos
won again by two points, 73-71. His last Final Four would
be in 2010 in Paris, where FC Barcelona, the eventual
champ, was better in the semis, 65-54. Although his
numbers say Smodis had a bad game – 0 points and 3
rebounds – he had just returned from a serious back injury
and operation. The only two games he played that
EuroLeague season were at the Final Four.
A triumphant return to home
After six wonderful years in CSKA, two EuroLeague,
six Russian Leagues and two Russian Cup titles, in the
summer of 2011, Smodis joined Cedevita Zagreb at 33
years old. It was very much a homecoming because
Novo Mesto is only 60 kilometers away. After 10 years
in the EuroLeague, he played a solid season in the Euro-
Cup with 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. At the end of the
season, he went back home, to Novo Mesto. He didn’t
play at the start of the season, but he would join the
team in the second half of the season and helped Krka
win the Slovenian League title. And how. They swept
the series, 3-0, against archrival Union Olimpija Ljubljana.
The third and last game was played in Ljubljana and
Krka won 71-61 with 21 points by Smodis, including
3 three-pointers, earning him the Final MVP honor.
He ended his career in 2013 as he had started it up in
2000, winning the title.
On the court, he was a fighter and a winner. Off the
court, he was a kind person, humble and easy going.
In the aforementioned interview, he was asked if at the
beginning of his career he would have imagined that he
could make it that far. Honestly, he replied:
“I wouldn’t have imagined it at all. At that point, I
was just leaving to find security for my family, trying to
do my best and earn money for them. It wasn’t about
winning or doing something special. It was just about
putting myself in a position to do well for my family.”
Once retired, Smodis opened a basketball school.
The fortunate kids who attend his school are learning
from one of the best, the humble champion, Matjaz
Smodis.
101 greats of european basketball
Matjaz Smodis
S