Bogdan Bogdanovic has already experienced his first NBA playoffs, he has done it with the Atlanta Hawks. The Serbian spent three years in the Sacramento Kings without smelling the qualifying rounds for the title and, precisely, this competitive leap was one of his objectives when he changed of scene and went to the Southeast. It was after one of the strangest skits of recent years: The Bucks tied him up as part of their facelift to better surround Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the sign and trade The agreement between Kings and Bucks was stopped and the Serb, disappointed with the movement of the teams, opted to go on the market as a restricted free agent. The Hawks saw the opportunity, they offered him 72 million for four seasons and the Kings let him go. without considering matching the offer. They had just drafted what they considered their replacement: Tyrese Haliburton.
Bogdanovic has served plenty in his first year in Atlanta. On the way to 29, who will meet in August, he has averaged 16.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists with 43.8% in triples. In the playoffs (the Hawks beat the Knicks and are playing the Sixers) he is at 15.8 points, 6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. A great performance for a player who came to the NBA in 2017 as a rookie 25 years old and already crowned a superstar in Europe: champion and top scorer of the Final Four of the Euroleague 2017 with Fenerbahçe, a tremendous team led by Obradovic and in which Bogdanovic played with Udoh, Kalinic, Vesely, Datome … Silver in Eurobasket, World Cup and Olympic Games with Serbia between 2014 and 2017, as NBA was Top scorer and member of the Best Quintet in the last World Cup, the one in 2019 that Spain won.
So of course Bogdanovic, a player of majestic class, He wasn’t going to shrink in the NBA and he didn’t shrink in his playoff debut either, where he played as a visitor on two of the loudest courts in the League (Knicks and Sixers), something that has not impressed those who have experienced the tremendous pressure of the European basketball halls: “No, it’s not that bad . In the NBA, they don’t hit you with lighters or coins when you’re shooting free throws, they don’t point lasers at your eyes, as it happened in the Panathinaikos pavilion … I remember that well, the OAKA green laser. It is very difficult to shoot a basket like this. And I know I don’t have to deal with that kind of thing here. So it is all a question of trust, it is something mental ”.
