Jurij Macura, former Slovenian power forward, spoke in an interview with Basketball Sphere about his premature career retirement, Ilirija, the Slovenian national team, as well as the current situation in the EuroLeague.
Jurij Macura unfortunately ended his basketball career prematurely at just 26 years old due to chronic injuries. As a result of major knee surgeries he had, last September he realized he could not continue and made the decision to end his playing career.
He started his career in 2016 by joining Spanish side Baskonia, where he passed through the youth categories and played for the second team. Soon after, he moved to the regional ABA League, signing a contract with Mega in 2019.
After one season, he moved to Primorska, where he also stayed for just one season before wearing the jersey of FMP.
After the club from Zeleznik, it turned out that his last proper engagement would be with Krka, where he spent three seasons. Injuries began causing increasingly major problems, leading to a one-year pause. He intended to resume his career following rehabilitation at Slovenian side Ilirija, with whom he agreed terms before the start of the previous season; however, he realized he could no longer continue and ended his career before playing a single official game for the club.
At the very beginning of the interview with Basketball Sphere, Jurij Macura spoke about how he is dealing with no longer being a professional basketball player and how much it has affected him, both physically and mentally.
“I would say that the transition was actually unexpectedly easier than I thought it would be. It all somehow happened that way; I started preparations with Ilirija for last season and realized after two friendly games that I could not continue.
At that time, while rehabilitating my knees, I was already working and studying. I was studying business economics and I simply continued doing that. The only difference now is that my workouts are more focused on the gym and tennis – I can play that – while everything else has remained more or less the same. I would say everything is okay”, began the former power forward of the Slovenian national team.
He hoped to continue his career at Ilirija, an interesting club that at the end of the season before last secured a spot in the ABA League by eliminating Cibona in the play-out series. It is well known that Luka Doncic’s father, Sasa Doncic, is the general manager of Ilirija. Our interviewee highlighted that such a club symbolizes a healthy structure and business approach.
“I would say this is already a multi-year project. I have known about Ilirija ever since Sasa took over. Back then, they literally started from the fourth Slovenian league and reached the first division in three years. I think they even had some crazy record, undefeated or something like that; they played extremely well.
They developed young guys; for example, Zan Mark Sisko was also at the club back then before later moving to Primorska. I think that everything has now continued in the same direction, just in a higher division, the ABA League.
I think it is a very good and healthy culture in terms of structure, planning, and guiding the club, especially for the Balkans where there is truly a lot of potential for young players. I honestly wish them all the best; I felt really good while I was there.”
Although his career did not last long, Macura gathered plenty of experience playing in the ABA League, where he wore the jerseys of Mega, Primorska, FMP, and Krka. The competition is changing and expanding beyond the borders of the former joint state, and the Slovenian power forward believes this is not a bad thing at all.
“I think it is great that the league is expanding, that it is taking a step forward, because I feel the league was stagnating for a long time without changes. But in recent years, I would say they made a really good and big step forward.
I especially think that the East and West structure that exists now – dividing clubs into two groups with 20 teams – is very interesting, as well as including Austria, and now Slovakia.
Dubai is coming in with a strong team. Okay, we can debate that Dubai has nothing to do with the Balkans or former Yugoslav states, but it is certainly a club with high financial backing, and that will definitely help our league. So I think it is very good and I really enjoy following what happens each year.”
At the mention of Dubai, one cannot help but mention the recent coach of that club, Aleksander Sekulic, who will be the head coach of Barcelona as of next season. Our interviewee recalls working with the Slovenian specialist in the Slovenian national team as well, speaking highly of all his achievements to date.
“I would certainly say that everything on his end was results-driven and consistent. He won the ABA League title with Dubai, which is certainly no small feat. He signed a contract with Barcelona; those are truly big things. He was also successful, as far as I know, in Russia (while leading Lokomotiv and Zenit).
I think his work is very basketball-theoretically sound, so I believe he will have no issues regarding basketball knowledge now at Barcelona as well.”
The Slovenian national team suffered two heavy defeats in the last qualification window for the FIBA World Cup. The second phase of qualifications lies ahead, where opponents will be much tougher and more challenging, and the former Baskonia player emphasizes that Slovenia can and must reach 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar.
“I think they can, of course, especially since we have seen over the past few years how smaller and previously relatively unknown nations in the basketball world are rising. I think we definitely have a chance; the team has plenty of quality, it just takes aligning everything properly. I would say there should be no doubt about whether we have a chance. Now, what will happen – especially when playing single games from here on – is hard to predict.
I certainly think there is a chance, and I wish the players and the national team all the best. In the end, we see that modern basketball relies heavily on a fast pace, fight, defense, and rebounding, so I think if they control those aspects, they have every chance to win.”
It goes without saying how significant the absence of Luka Doncic is for the Slovenian national team. The Los Angeles Lakers star was unable to respond to the call-up for the previous qualification window. Our interviewee notes that he hopes for the return of the team’s biggest star for the upcoming qualification matches.
“We know what Luka means to our national team; that is no longer a secret. He is a huge part of it, if not the biggest, and the team truly misses him, which can be seen.
I really do not know what is happening regarding family and those matters; I understand him on one hand, of course, but on the other hand, putting myself in the position of a Slovenian national team fan, I can say we must remain fair to players who have their own issues. That must be understood because health comes first on anyone’s priority list, family second, and only then everything else.
I would not say I just wish, but rather I hope he returns for these upcoming games. I do not know if he will – probably not if it has been that way so far – and speculating about it again seems pointless. It will be great to watch him again when he returns, that is how I will put it.”
Speaking of Luka Doncic, it is impossible to skip the topic of the new basketball project in Rome, in which the Slovenian star plays a major role. Our interviewee shared his opinion on the ambitious project involving his former national team colleague.
“I would say it is a very interesting move on his part. I was not expecting it, nor had I heard about it until it appeared in the media, and I think – based on the information I saw – there will also be a farm club involved, perhaps with a view toward long-term operations when NBA Europe arrives.
Of course, those are all speculations right now, but that is how I see it. And from an investment standpoint, he and his financial team surely ran their numbers, so it is certainly a good decision they made.”
Jurij Macura also talked about current affairs in the EuroLeague and how increasingly more money is being invested in players today. He also touched upon regional clubs in Europe’s top competition, Crvena Zvezda and Partizan.
“It was a huge shame for me that Crvena Zvezda could not qualify for the playoffs. Partizan had some issues of their own. I would love to see someone from our region in the playoffs after so many years. I think there is always a chance for that, especially because of the crowd and atmosphere in our region, how it is followed, and how basketball is played.
The fact that so much money is being invested is, again, a good thing in my opinion, because that way the EuroLeague can defend itself against other projects and organizations like NBA Europe. But as I said, a smaller club can always have a chance in modern basketball.
We saw last year as well how everything came down to a single win; I think positions four through ten were separated by just a win or loss for months, and many teams were shuffled in there. I truly think that now, more than ever, smaller clubs with perhaps less financial power have more of a chance.
There are, of course, other factors too – strategy, how clubs are run. And I cannot wait for the new EuroLeague season to start; I think it will be very interesting once again”, concluded Jurij Macura for Basketball Sphere.
