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| Watch "Land of MVPs", Euroleague Basketball's latest documentary |
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The latest Euroleague Basketball Originals documentary, "Land of MVPs", is now available for streaming on Euroleague.TV, YouTube and Facebook.
In 2021, the MVPs of the world's three most prestigious professional basketball competitions all hailed from the same small European country, Serbia. It was more than an unprecedented coincidence. It was a testament to that country's passion for the game and the star quality of the talent produced and nurtured there.
"Land of MVPs" brings us to Serbia's far north to meet the NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic; the center of the country to hear from 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season and Final MVP, Milos Teodosic; and south, which is where Vasilije Micic, the 2020-21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP, grew up.
The 62-minute documentary features original footage from their hometowns and their current cities.
Micic grew up in Kopaonik and played for five teams, including Mega, before becoming a EuroLeague superstar with Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
"For such a small country as Serbia, with so small number of population, it is an amazing award and privilege to represent Serbia this way," Micic says. "For me, specifically, it means a lot because I am one of these guys, and it will be remarkable for probably the history of basketball. Each of us deserved it."
Teodosic was born in Valjevo, became a EuroLeague MVP with Olympiacos Piraeus, won the EuroLeague with CSKA Moscow and earned back-to-back EuroCup Regular Season MVP honors with Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
"For sure, part of this is something natural, something with which you are born, but I had two, three coaches who helped me so much," Teodosic says. "When I pass it, I never to watch in your eyes, but to watch left or right, to have this feeling, where is the player, to read the game. Most of the time, I know where I am going to pass but you need to be also lucky. Usually, these passes you never even try anywhere and the situation in the game allows you to and open space allows you to try a pass. And sometimes, even you are surprised."
Born in Sombor, Jokic started his career with Belgrade-based Mega. He went from being chosen with the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft to unthinkable heights in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets.
"To be honest, I didn't think about being in the NBA. My goal, at that moment, when I started to play basketball back home, it was playing the EuroLeague because that was kind of the closest top league in my country," Jokic says in the film. "I can play in some big clubs in Serbia and kind of grind my way up, but when the Denver Nuggets drafted me, it was an opportunity for me to become an NBA player."
Their achievements were no fluke. The trio each garnered top awards in the 2021-22 campaign as well with Jokic repeating as NBA MVP, Teodosic claiming EuroCup Final MVP honors and Micic capturing the EuroLeague's Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy.
Together, these players embody a devotion to basketball excellence that courses throughout their country. Follow each of them home to learn how Serbia became a "Land of MVPs".
"Land of MVPs" features well-known names in European basketball such as two-time EuroLeague champion Facu Campazzo, former EuroLeague MVP Nemanja Bjelica and former All-EuroLeague center Nenad Krstic, and coaches Ettore Messina, Sergio Scariolo, Dejan Milojevic and Ergin Ataman. The documentary also focuses on Jokic, Micic and Teodosic in their early days as well as in their everyday lives in Denver, Belgrade and Bologna, respectively.
"There are players coming from Belgrade, but we all come from small cities where it was very tough to live, to just survive, and I think these things give us more confidence, or self-confidence, or whatever you call it, just what we need when it comes to basketball and sports," Krstic says. "You learn how to survive in life and this pressure, when it comes to basketball or other sports, is nothing compared to this. And this is something that makes Serbs special."
"Land of MVPs" joins a long list of premium, long-form content from the Euroleague Basketball Originals platform. Among the other documentaries available are "Istanbul: Hoops Hub" and "Limitless: Vassilis Spanoulis".
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