“When AEK came for Jure [Zdovc], we were supposed to leave together. I was packing my stuff. But Jure didn’t have an option in his contract to leave, and Boray [Dai] and Jure were together, calling me. ‘If Jure has to leave, I must continue with the team.’ That was the only condition of the club. Jure called me to say, ‘You have to stay here, otherwise, they don’t let me go.’ This is how I started. The same summer, Jure was with [Slovenian] National Team. So, I was involved with preparations and transfers. I was also with him on the national team, but I did a double shift.
The only way for Jure to leave was [me staying in Antep] because they didn’t want to change the system, even if I change everything. Jure is my brother, but we play completely differently. That’s why we’re a good couple.
It’s funny because we would play Efes on Monday and Jure left on Saturday. And Sunday was my first practice with the team. They were really strong. I remember we were down 20 points – 13-33 or something like that – but somehow, we came back, and we won in overtime. We won my first game. This first game gave me the psychology to do this job continuously.”