Maurizio Gherardini recalls Zeljko Obradovic's attitude that surprised his Italian CEO / News - Basketnews.com

Fenerbahce GM Maurizio Gherardini shared the story of how Zeljko Obradovic agreed to a deal with Benetton Treviso without initially signing a contract.

Credit: Fenerbahce Beko Credit Fenerbahce Beko

Maurizio Gheradini was the latest guest on the Benas Podcast, hosted by Benas Matkevicius.

The GM of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul touched on many issues, but mostly about the longevity of his success and the reasons for it. At some point, the 67-year-old executive recalled the background of his first collaboration with Zeljko Obradovic.

Gherardini moved to Benetton Treviso in 1992 and spent 14 years with the club, winning 4 Italian championships, two Eurocups (Saporta), seven domestic cups, and three Super Cups.

In 1997, Zeljko Obradovic was coaching Real Madrid and the Serbian national team, whom he led to the EuroBasket gold medal. During the podcast, Gherardini shared how the winningest European coach ended up signing with Benetton.

"When we opted for Obradovic, our CEO in Treviso said, 'He looks like a very strange and aggressive man. I don't know him and I want to have a feeling," Gherardini said.

"I told him, 'Let's go and watch a game of him.' I think they were playing in Paris. So, we flew out there just for the CEO to see the coach in action. We tried to hide somewhere in the gym, and Obradovic didn't know anything about it," Gherardini continued.

It was a secret mission of scouting. As soon as the game was over, the CEO said, "He's our guy. I like him, I like the way he relates to players. Now, let's try to connect and finalize the deal."

Gherardini met with Obradovic in the presence of Benetton's CEO and the Serbian coach wanted to know if everything was set for the deal.

The two men agreed and shook hands. At the dinner that followed the agreement between Gherardini and Obradovic, the CEO, who was also in attendace, asked, "Are we going to sign anything?"

Then, according to Gherardini, Obradovic gave the CEO a look and said, "I gave Maurizio my hand. What else do you want?"

"We ended up signing the contract after Obradovic went to Treviso, but there was no need to sign because the deal was already in place after the handshake," the veteran GM concluded.

The two worked together again after 17 years (2014) at Fenerbahce, where Obradovic was the head coach for six seasons.

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