101 Greats of European Basketball

horizontal chase scene that was new to me as it totally
contrasted with the vertical, up-and-down style of the
NBA. Partizan's Dejan Tomasevic, another subject here,
was the leading scorer on that night, which I still consider
my awakening to what makes European basketball
unique.
A couple of twists and turns later, I found myself as
a head coach – for the first and last time of my life – in
Spain's second division. There, my team battled Fuenlabrada,
then led by another legend found here, Velimir
Perasovic. I still consider it an honor that he was on the
all-star team I coached that season, even though he
couldn't actually play due to sickness.
With all these experiences, I would have thought that
I had received a good education in European basketball.
Then I had the fine fortune to begin working with Vladimir
at Euroleague Basketball, and I soon realized how
much more there was for me to learn, especially about
the subject of this book – the players who lifted European
basketball to the place it occupies today. Together,
they forged a unique, team-first brand of basketball that
now appeals to many people – certainly to this lifelong
fan and basketball journalist – more than any other.
Today, we know beyond any doubt that the quality
of players in Europe and their expertise in the practice
of our sport is of the highest level. (Yes, I'm talking
about practice!) But for the greats who paved the way
for today's stars – the ones who developed the European
game in relative obscurity, before international
satellite TV and instant highlights on your telephone
from halfway around the world – this collection is one
of long-awaited justice and gratitude.
My good friend Vladimir saw and spoke with many
of them, reported on all of them, and collected this
fascinating book full of their stories. What comes shining
through these stories is that the European game,
though it may have missed the marketing expertise
that leads to global recognition, never lacked for great
talent, unique characters, intense competition and pulsating
atmosphere.
The men in this book, who come from all around the
world, excelled at one thing above all – making the sport
of basketball better than it would be now without their
individual and collective genius as players. We see all
the evidence for what they accomplished in the new
heights of popularity and respect that the European
game reaches with each passing season.
Oddly enough, even though we didn't meet until
much later, Vladimir and I both arrived to live in Barcelona
about nine months before those 1992 Olympics.
I just wish now that he had been my opponent in that
pickup game. Presuming I could have defended him
better, I would not have had to break an ankle to start
my path to enlightenment about the European game,
because I would have heard his first-rate stories sooner,
too. Better late than never, he has helped to make
me a true believer in European basketball's long and
often under-recognized history of great players.
Readers of this collection will soon become true
believers, too.
Editor’s note: For purposes of clarity and consistency,
the major European club competitions, which went
by many different names over the years, have been
referred to throughout by their most recent names in
each case: the EuroLeague, the Saporta Cup and the
Korac Cup. Likewise, two of the major international
country competitions are cited throughout the book
exclusively as EuroBasket and the World Cup.
Frank Lawlor, Editorial Director
Euroleague basketball
101 greats of european basketball