Jaka Lakovic on leaving Panathinaikos: 'I haven't spoken to Obradovic since then' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: K. Kavolėlis, Imago Sport - Scanpix Credit K. Kavolėlis, Imago Sport - Scanpix

Jaka Lakovic was one of the most prolific Slovenian basketball players to ever play in Europe, spending his best years in Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and FC Barcelona. After playing for four years in Athens, he departed for Barcelona after the 2005-06 season, much to the discontent of head coach Zeljko Obradovic.

Lakovic joined Panathinaikos the season after the team won the EuroLeague. During his four years with the team, the Greek powerhouse failed to bring another EuroLeague title to Athens, and Lakovic decided to depart to Barcelona. After he left, Panathinaikos won the EuroLeague the following season.

The current head coach of Ratiopharm Ulm spoke to Cosmote TV's "Pick n 'Roll" show and revealed that he has not spoken with Zeljko Obradovic ever since.

"We did not have the opportunity to have contact [with Obradovic] is the truth," Lakovic said. "He thought that leaving Panathinaikos was the wrong decision or the wrong way I did it. What I had decided was to go to Barcelona.

I never signed, nor did I say with certainty that I would stay at Panathinaikos. Until the last moment I was in Athens, and I had not decided. So I'm fine, I've accepted my decision, whatever it was."

The 43-year-old also said that his only encounter with Obradovic was last year, during the Pavlos Giannakopoulos" tournament: "There we exchanged a 'hello' and that's it."

Lastly, Lakovic also praised his fellow countryman Luka Doncic: "He is a basketball genius. He plays competitively, and the fact that he wants to be the best even in training is one of the characteristics that classify him beyond the ordinary.

He is absolutely unusual, and in every training session, he wanted to win. It is unbelievable. I remember [Eurobasket 2017] that it was his first appearance in the National Team of Slovenia, he came as a young man, as a rookie, and he was already great."

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