SERBIA (Belgrade) - When you are born in Cacak as a boy, and you like ball and sports, sooner or later there will inevitably come a  time when you will end up on the basketball court. If you are also talented and persistent, you already have an excellent chance to succeed under the hoop. And if, along the way, you wash your hands in the Morava River and in that way "taste" that famous Serbian basketball myth, your actions grow even more.

Born in 1994, Aleksa Avramovic fulfilled all of those boyhood conditions and fell in love with the game of basketball thanks to the success of the national team of FR Yugoslavia at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, USA and the masterpieces of Dejan Bodiroga at that historical tournament. Immediately after that championship, he went to his mother and said:

"Take me to the gym. I want to train basketball. I want to do the same."

A decade and a half later, Avramovic would bring his country's national team a victory against Austria in Vienna with a triple from nine meters at the end of time, in the fourth round of the then-new qualifications "windows" for the FIBA World Cup 2019.

Avramovic is a player who had an interesting, challenging, and but partly similar path to probably the best basketball player in Cacak of all time. And what is especially important for this story, Avramovic got the chance to make his dreams come true thanks to the new FIBA ​​system, from which he had a significant benefit.

Turning point: three-point shot in a 'window' game

Everything started in February 2018 after not being called for the first-ever FIBA qualifying window.

"Yes, Sale (Sasha Djordjevic, ex Serbia head coach) called me for that first window, but I didn't enter the roster of 12," Avramovic explains. "Then I got a call for the second one as well.  I didn't play the first game again, and then Dejan Todorovic got injured. After that, I jumped in the team in our game against Austria, with it ending as nicely as possible.

"It was the most beautiful debut in my life, a dream debut. That triple twenty seconds before the end in the last second to win from nine meters, wow. Since then, I have always been on the team, except for one term when I had an injury."

 

Avramovic put himself on the map helped by, at the time, a new basketball horizon.

"Personally, I had a lot of benefits from that whole situation," he said. "I got a chance to play for my country and to play during the season, in front of our fans, our people. And there's no better feeling than that."

"The best games in a player's life are those on the national team. You feel very proud in those moments. I'm glad I made that dream come true".

Besides the fact that it is challenging to adapt to such changes during the long season, the Serbian combo-guard likes the new opportunity.

"I appreciate the idea that it should be like in football. It is dynamic, the national team gathers more often, and there is always something to play for, which is good. So when you say - it's November or February, it's a national team break, I like that."

There is a belief that Avramovic, along with NBA prospect Filip Petrusev, is one of the few players from those "window teams" who has a real chance to be in the crew of the 12 best for the Olympics in Tokyo.

"I honestly train and play basketball out of a desire to represent my country, and I don't hide it," Avramovic added.

The story about how a young Avramovic  fell in love with a basketball and national team game is exciting. And it all started with Indianapolis and Yugoslavia's historic title run at the 2002 World Cup.

 

"That's why I decided to go to training and start playing basketball seriously. I remember that time. One September day, we got up at 2 AM or 3 AM to watch those games. I really liked a lot how Dejan Bodiroga played then and what a leader he was on the field. In my opinion, he is one of the best ever."

A calmness that impresses

People in Serbia hope that the national team may win a  new gold medal soon under the new head coach Igor Kokoskov, who has been impressed by Avramovic. 

"He is a man who understands everything, who understands players 100 percent. And I would add the most impressive - unrealistically calm. And that thrilled me. That stability, composure, that's amazing."

"A great professional brought it all from the US and the NBA, and he is different from other European coaches," Avramovic said of Kokoskov. "He doesn't shout, ever. He is always calm, totally. Somehow he understands. And I like his sentence that 'the most crucial game is the next one.' We lost to Switzerland recently in EuroBasket qualifications, and it was a shock for us. A collapse. We were are all silent. And he enters the locker room and says: The next game is the most important, and we are going to get it. And we got it."

Cacak way via Italy

Without the idea to put such pressure on Avramovic, we must notice a similarity with legendary Yugoslav player Dragan Kicanovic.

He also grew up and started in a small club in Cacak, played a great season for the famous club Borac Cacak, and then move to Italy and had a significant episode over there.

"That was my decision in consultation with the family," Avramovic said. "I was 21, and it was time to move on because a good portion of my peers was already abroad. So Varese became my second home. I spent three great seasons there, played the playoffs, played Basketball Champions League (BCL), met many great people, learned the language. What is so crucial in everything, I matured - both as a player and as a person."

As he remembers his debut for the national team, Avramovic will never forget his debut in BCL against Asvel.

 

"I clearly remember that game. It was a few days before my 22nd birthday. I was terrific, ending the game with 29 points. I didn't see it as a 'wow' thing then. I came out as a kid, and I played without pressure; I had self-confidence, that kind of sports insolence."

After the Italian adventure, Avramovic moved to Spain, where he played for Unicaja Malaga, before moving on this past season for Estudiantes.

Despite his great season - 16.4  points, 3.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game - the 'students' from Madrid were relegated to the second division in a thrilling ending of the Spanish basketball league Liga Endesa, 'Avram' will be on the move. And, as Avramovic admits, there is a lot of interest in his basketball skills and acumen across the Old Continent. 

A new chapter will start after Tokyo Olympics, he hopes.