Nikola Kalinic reveals why he declined Partizan and sends a message to Serbian fans / News - Basketnews.com

Nikola Kalinic had his own reasons to go home after successful years with Fenerbahce and the Serbian national team. His former coach Zeljko Obradovic tried to attract him with a promising Partizan project. But a 30-year-old forward showed rare loyalty. Now he can't complain about his decision.

Nikola Kalinic

MIN:29.68PTS:12.69 (49.86%)REB:3.65As:3.35ST:0.96BL:0.04TO:2.69GM:26ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022

Kalinic remembers with a smile how his first professional contract was negotiated.

A four-year guaranteed deal with Novi Sad. A €300 salary per month for the first year, increasing it to €600, €900, €1200 by every following season.

No outs, no bonuses, no additional benefits. Nothing. Just a multi-year agreement that should have locked him up until the age of 22.

"Okay, you're going to be there in the city, you'll go to university to finish school, and you're going to be okay," Kalinic's dad, who was responsible for making this contract, was happy with his son's situation.

"Does he need an apartment?" people from Novi Sad asked him before finalizing the deal.

"No, no, he's going to live with his sister," Kalinic's father responded.

"Does he need any nutrition?" they asked again.

"No, no. As I said, Nikola is going to live with a sister, and they're going to cook together," dad assured.

His son was sitting next to him, thinking he was crazy.

"I couldn't believe," Kalinic recalls in an interview with BasketNews.

"I respect you, you're a great father, but you're not going to do anything with my basketball career anymore," Nikola later told his dad.

Novi Sad were late with payments, and Kalinic managed to get out of his agreement after the first season. Ten years later, he got himself in an interesting situation. But since the Novi Sad deal, he made all decisions on his own.

Kalinic was already a EuroLeague champion, three-time Turkish League champion, ABA League, and Serbian League winner. Also, a silver medalist with Serbian National Team in Olympic Games and the World Cup.

Nikola Kalinic

Team:Crvena Zvezda BelgradePosition:SFAge:30Height:202 cmWeight:101 kgBirth place:Subotica, SerbiaProfileNewsStatistics

But in 2020, the pandemia isolated the world and reset Kalinic's priorities.

He wanted to be closer to his family and check himself if he could be the go-to guy of the EuroLeague team.

There was his former team, Crvena Zvezda, waiting for him. But also, an up-and-coming project in Belgrade emerged, with his former head coach Zeljko Obradovic behind it.

Obradovic's connection from their time with Fenerbahce looked promising for possible cooperation. But Kalinic wasn't very interested in switching sides of the everlasting rivalry.

"We had some contacts during the summer. He (Zeljko) asked my agent and me would I come there (Partizan). And I said that I couldn't do that because I didn't want to, and it would have been stupid," Kalinic told BasketNews.

"I'm on a lot of pictures winning trophies with Crvena Zvezda and celebrating with them. I don't think it's appropriate now to change your colors like that," he explained. "Especially if you don't have to and if you can play for Crvena Zvezda."

Behind the doors where the interview took place, there was Nikola Kalinic on one of the pictures in the Zvezda's office hallway.

Kalinic, 23 back then, was celebrating triple-crown, which included ABA League, Radivoje Korac Cup, and Serbian league championships.

Kalinic was surrounded by his former teammates Boban Marjanovic, Marcus Williams, Stefan Jovic, Jaka Blazic, Nemanja Dangubic, Charles Jenkins, and others. Also, his current teammates Branko Lazic, Maik Zirbes, Luka Mitrovic, and coach Dejan Radonjic.

But the loyalty he showed to Crvena Zvezda was worth huge respect.

There were many occasions when players transferred between rivals in the previous years, and it became a pretty casual thing in today's basketball.

"Every situation is different. I totally understand when you want to play on a higher level or maybe get a good offer money-wise. At the end of the day, we are just playing for another 10-15 years, and financially you take what you can have," Kalinic continued. "But if you don't have to, I really don't understand some guys that are in their best years, and they can play whatever they want..."

What about Spanoulis move from Panathinaikos to Olympiacos?

"He also had his reasons. He wanted to prove to everybody that he could be the main guy, and he couldn't do it in Panathinaikos with all the players that were there. I didn't talk to him personally about it, at least that was how I saw it," Kalinic told.

"He thought that he didn't have enough space in Panathinaikos, so he decided to go there and prove everybody. And he did. He almost changed the landscape of Greek basketball. Olympiacos started rising, and since then, Panathinaikos started going down a little bit," he continued.

"For some players, I understand it. For some others, I don't," Kalinic concluded. "But it happens everywhere. It's part of the job."

Kalinic came back as the go-to guy of Dejan Radonjic team, and both sides should be happy about this cooperation.

Crvena Zvezda won the first title of the season, the Serbian Cup (Radivoje Korac Cup), two weeks ago and joined the EuroLeague playoff race.

Kalinic leads the team as the top scorer (12.7 PPG) and the most efficient player by PIR (11.4).

Teammates from Crvena Zvezda enjoy playing together with him, and the chemistry they've built out there makes them underdogs you want to cheer for in the EuroLeague.

"We're like miners," Kalinic said. "We're playing hard every game. We're putting our bodies on the line. We're trying to be physical, play good defense, run. I think it's not easy to play against us."

"I can remember only one or two games when somebody totally blew us out. We had a couple of losses we shouldn't have. But it's also a process of learning," he continued. "Also, for me, it's the first time after I don't know how many years to be a leader. To have the ball in those moments. I also made many mistakes, but I'm trying to improve. As the season goes, I'm hoping that I'm going to be better and better."

On top of that, Partizan are behind.

The hype around Partizan before the season was so high that it motivated some Crvena Zvezda players even more.

Now they enjoy being in the shadow of their main rivals, but, most importantly, winning.

"I think they also made a mistake with all the hype they made in the newspapers and the media. Whoever came to their club, they put it like he was Michael Jordan," Kalinic noticed."But the whole summer, our players were reading that Partizan brought this player, and he's better than the Red Star's player. They're going to kill them this year, and so on."

"People were probably tired of Crvena Zvezda winning championships, and they wanted something new," he added. "Also, Zeljko was coming. Wherever he comes, he is a star, and the spotlight is on him. When he was in Fenerbahce, wherever we came, either to every Turkish city or in EuroLeague, everybody wanted to interview him and take a picture. So it was a natural thing."

"We're better as a team. I think they have great individuals, but they're still trying to find their way how to play together," Kalinic told BasketNews after Radivoje Korac Cup. "But this is only the Cup, and we have a lot more games to play. But probably it made all our guys who play there for many years even more motivated, and so far, it works out good for us."

BasketNews invites you to watch the highlights of the video interview with Nikola Kalinic. He speaks about his other big passion outside basketball and delivers the message to all Serbian fans.

VIDEO:

Also, you can listen to the entire 45-minute conversation on Spotify and other major audio platforms, where Kalinic shares his thoughts about his future with Crvena Zvezda.

AUDIO:

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