The City
BELGRADE, SERBIA
I knew Serbia had a long and proud basketball history. I also knew that Partizan Belgrade and Red Star have one of the fiercest rivalries in the sports world in football and basketball, so I expected the people of this city to be passionate. Serbia has been through a lot in recent years and that has built tough, resilient people.
The Run
From very early on, I identified the courts at Kalemegdan Park in Belgrade as one that I wanted to play on. Set inside the old Belgrade Fortress which is around 2,500 years old, I knew that this was going to be a special place. I’d received lots of messages from people who said they were coming to play and almost all of them came.
The courts were painted to represent both Belgrade teams — Partizan and Red Star. And the rivalry between those teams was on display. One player, jokingly, did not want to step foot on the Red Star court. He did, but it was only because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have played a game with me that day.
This was a really fun atmosphere because we played for over two hours and in the end, nobody really kept score, it was just end-to-end stuff. The post game chat was just as fun and almost lasted as long as the run. The pictures from here are some of my favorites as the sun setting over the castle made for some incredible colors.
The Star
Maybe it was because we weren’t keeping score, but there really wasn’t one guy who stood out above the rest. The vibes here were great though because it was competitive, without the need to declare winners after each game.
