101 Greats of European Basketball

“Those are two medals that have a special place
in my memories,” Corbalan told me. “At that time, the
USSR and Yugoslavia had better teams than us, but
we managed to eliminate them in the semis of two big
competitions. People following basketball nowadays
must know that in those years, the first three spots
were almost the exclusive property of Yugoslavia, the
USSR and the USA.”
And now a writer, too!
For some years now, Corbalan has been a doctor
only. From time to time he writes interesting columns in
Madrid’s sports media. But not so long ago, he caught
my attention with the title of his book: “Conversations
with Mirza”. My first guess was that Corbalan transcribed
some of the talks he had with his great friend
and teammate on Real Madrid between 1980 and 1982,
Mirza Delibasic. However, his book is a novel, a metaphor
about Mirza and his home city Sarajevo, whose
fate – like his own – was a sad one. Every word uttered
by Corbalan about Delibasic gives off deep respect,
love and feeling. About his basketball and his enormous
talent Corbalan simply says, “He was a genius.”
And I totally agree.
They first met at the U16 European Championship
in Gorizia, Italy, in 1971. Mirza Delibasic was the best
player for Yugoslavia, the eventual champ. They also
interacted at the 1972 U18 European Championship in
Zadar, with the same protagonist role for Mirza. After
that, they crossed each other’s paths several times in
big competitions and even were together twice in the
European Selection all-star team. In the 1979-80 season,
during the two games between Bosna Sarajevo,
defending champion and Real Madrid, future champion,
Delibasic showed to the fans in Madrid what Corbalan
had known since 1971.
In Sarajevo, Bosna defeated Real Madrid 98-96 without
a big contribution from Delibasic. But in the second
game in Madrid, played on February 21, 1980, Delibasic
drove the home team’s defense crazy with 44 points
despite Madrid’s 95-93 win. Fortunately for the Spanish
team, Real Madrid signed Delibasic at the end of that
season and then the relationship between two great
players and great people became bigger than friendship.
That relationship ended due to the early death of
Delibasic on December 8, 2001.Thanks to his friend,
Dr. Juan Antonio Corbalan, Delibasic is somehow still
among us again and in the hearts of the readers of the
book “Conversations with Mirza”.
Juan Antonio Corbalan
101 greats of european basketball
C