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It’s not like we are the first to draw a parallel between sports and business, both in terms of pressure and challenges you will face, and in terms of qualities you need to succeed in either. While there are many athletes who have triumphed over adversity, shown great persistence and passion, etc. there are not quite so many who have shown the versatility that Predrag Danilovic continues to display. When you get to the end of the post, you’ll understand that we are not talking about his versatility in the court as much as outside of it.

But first things first, in order to learn from his present, you need at least a bit of info on his past. Predrag (Sasa) Danilovic was born in 1970 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His parents noticed his potential for basketball, and encouraged him to join a local team. His talent was so obvious, that it wasn’t long before Dusko Vujosevic, who was at the time coaching for Partizan, one of the two best known teams in Yugoslavia, approached the young player and started convincing him that his future was to be found in Belgrade. It didn’t take long for him to persuade Danilovic to move, even though this meant he would be leaving his family and friends behind, and setting off to live on his own in an unfamiliar city. At the time Danilovic was only 16.

While most people his age would use the opportunity to live it up and throw caution to the wind, Predrag Danilovic worked hard from the day one, struggling to find a way to reconcile the demands imposed by school and practices. As it usually happens, great talent combined with utmost dedication resulted in excellence. Just one year after becoming a full-fledged member of the team, Danilovic gets drafted into the Yugoslav national team for the upcoming European Basketball Championship. His performance there helps his team win gold, and starts establishing him as one of the most promising young players.

Aside from minor hitches, his stay in Partizan is mostly marked by constant and obvious progress of him as a player, and by the growing admiration that the audiences were showering him with. Even though he must have known that he could have a comfortable live simply staying with Partizan, hungry for new challenges, and at the constant insistence of their coach, he starts playing for the Italian Virtus Bologna.

Once again, as soon as he became celebrated by the fans, he gets restless and starts looking for a new challenge. He finds it in the NBA, making the name Predrag Danilovic, or Sasha, as he was called for the most of his stay there, a fixture among the fans of Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat alike.

After trying his hand there, he once again returns to Italy, only to shock everyone following his career by retiring at the age of 30. While a lot of people were perplexed by his choice, Danilovic shows that basketball is still his life by taking the position of the deputy general manager of the tam that always had a hold on him, Partizan. After also spending some time as the team’s general manager, in 2016, Danilovic finally climbs as high as one possibly could in basketball in the country by becoming the president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia.

In the end, he took everything he learned as a player and as a fan of basketball, and decided to start using it to further not only one team, but the entire sport. The fact that not even the members of the teams that have an enduring and passionate rivalry with Partizan had any real objections to his appointment means that he has proven himself not only as a basketball expert, but also as someone who values the sport above personal preferences or loyalties.

That’s why you should remember his example. Even if your passion for a certain discipline or idea starts dwindling, there numerous way to reawaken it. You got tired of one aspect of what used to be your dream? That doesn’t mean that you can’t still find great pleasure in pursuing its other aspects, or helping those who share your love for it.

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