By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
Somewhat surprisingly, Nikola Kalinic announced before the season that he is ending his playing career at the age of 35.
Kalinic was a guest on the podcast “Kod Luke i Kuzme”, where he revealed the real reason for his retirement.
The first reports said that Kalinic retired in order to be with his daughter and that these personal circumstances influenced his decision, but Kalinic has now shared new and additional details about his retirement.
“This has been going on for a few years. For a long time I hadn’t felt the same passion as before. I don’t know if people watching on TV could notice it, but it wasn’t like it used to be. It had been like that for a while. I started to prepare the ground for this step and then a situation appeared in which things could be resolved in this direction. I decided to take this step and I reached an agreement to stay at Crvena zvezda.”
Kalinic stated that he was physically capable of competing, but that the mental side was decisive in his decision to retire.
“It was only the mental side. Physically I felt great, but I felt bad in terms of basketball. I can tell how my body feels from my dunks. At the end of the season I felt good physically, I was practically flying, but in basketball terms I couldn’t find myself.”
On the way to a team meeting, he faced reality and realized he did not want to completely wear his body out.
“On the way to a meeting I didn’t even feel the desire to do this anymore. How many times can we talk about pick-and-roll? Llull goes left, Sloukas goes right. I just couldn’t do it anymore. The other thing was that my father played table tennis until he was 41; I did not want to reach the point where I would have to undergo hip and knee surgeries. I achieved all my goals and passions in life, I saw the world, I met people, I made money. There is no point in playing until my Achilles tendons snap.”
The Serbian basketball player clearly expressed his intentions regarding his new role at Crvena Zvezda.
“I am preparing myself to become a head coach one day. That is why I entered this profession, to see whether I am suitable for it or not. I think I can be a bridge between the coaching staff’s ideas and the players. It is a demanding position, but so far I am enjoying it.”
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