In an interview with Sportal, the American agent Bill Duffy touched upon the potential engagements of Duda Ivkovic and Zeljko Obradovic in the NBA league and stated which of the two was close to a job in the best competition in the world.
Duffy is highly respected in the US. Through the BDA agency, together with Rade Filipovic, he is responsible for a large number of players from the former Yugoslavia to the NBA. That agency currently represents Luka Doncic, Scotty Barnes, RJ Barrett, Deandre Ayton…
How well would Zeljko Obradovic’s system suit such players?
“He is a great coach, one of the best ever. He is tough. It would be hard for some people to accept that,” said Duffy.
“Like the ‘Godfather'”
Another great Serbian expert left an impression on the aforementioned agent.
“The coach I always thought about was Ivkovic. We tried to help Ivkovic come to Golden State. At one point, many years ago, Chris Mullin was the general manager and we had a meeting in Miami to help coach Ivkovic. It didn’t work, it was a matter of timing.
Too bad, I thought it would be the real deal. He was very dignified, brilliant, has excellent communication skills and is well respected. That was my dream, to see Ivkovic as a coach in America. I know he passed away. God rest his soul. We loved him.”
Bill Duffy was particularly attached to the trophy strategist.
“I always saw him as a wise man. He is just like the ‘Godfather’. A wise man. He always has smart things to say, you learn from it. I spent a lot of time with him. If I went to Europe, I would even go to his place. We had lunch together. He was very grateful that we tried to connect him with the NBA. This was many years ago. I wish that had happened,” Duffy stated.