After handily defeating the Czech Republic on Monday in Team Serbia’s first game since losing Bogdan Bogdanovic to a hamstring injury, the legendary coach, Svetislav Pešić, was asked if the team’s ambitions had changed since losing their captain. Pešić laughed, scoffing at the notion, then responded in his native tongue, “We would immediately be shot for it. Do you know where we come from?”
Coach Pešić had a very interesting quote about Team Serbia's ambitions in the Tournament after Bogdan Bogdanović had to leave the team after the injury.#SRBvsCZE#EuroBasket2025 pic.twitter.com/JVMRIhvhPG
— Miroslav Ćuk (@MiroslavCuk) September 2, 2025
Pešić was (hopefully) making a colorful joke, referring to Serbia’s violent, wartorn history, but also making it clear that Serbia’s ambitions and expectations haven’t changed one bit since losing Bogey for the rest of EuroBasket.
Losing the 33-year-old Bogdanovic is obviously a massive blow on and off the court, but as long as this team has Nikola Jokic, they’re expecting to win the tournament. They have several other stars from the NBA and other major leagues around the world, and boast a roster as stacked with talent as any in Europe.
Serbia still favorites to win EuroBasket
Serbia remains the favorite to win the European Championships, and if anything, this will only make Jokic's accomplishment that much sweeter and more impressive. Obviously, he was already the best player on the team, but now, along with Vasilije Micic, he will take on a much bigger leadership role.
The two veterans, and icons in their own right, will have big shoes to fill in replacing the captain. It’s not like Bogey was putting up monster stat lines, averaging just 9 points and 3.5 rebounds over the two full games he played in, but his impact goes far beyond the box score. We saw it firsthand in the Olympics, and fans of international basketball have seen it for ages.
Bogey is a gamer, a leader, and someone who can always be trusted to come through in the clutch. If Serbia keeps coasting to wins, his absence may not matter. But more likely than not, they’ll be tested at some point, and in those crunch-time minutes, that’s when they finally might miss Bogdanovic the most.
So, hopefully, Jokic can still lead this team to victory and roll into the NBA season with all the momentum in the world. But if things don’t go his way and Serbia should fall, we’ll all just have to hope that Svetislav Pešić was making a joke, and that they won’t actually be shot.
Even though it’s a joke, this paints a picture of where Jokic comes from and how he was raised, where many of his countrymen face much worse consequences than simply losing a game.