Slomo
09-27-2005, 11:42 AM
Batman, I've noticed you been trying to get on Angel's good side for quite some time now. Listen to the advise of your elders (me):
1. Find a nice article about Rasho and make a thread about it.
2. Find a nice picture of Rasho and post it as your second post.
Success is guaranteed :lol
Seriously here's an article that was published in a Slovenian fashion magazine. The media has obviously noticed that our best paid athlete is still a bachelor.
The stuff in red are my comments since I couldn't always find the right words for an accurate translation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interview by Sasa Globacnik
Published in Modna Jana, October 2005
From Fuzine to the NBA
Rasho Nesterovich is the first Slovenian to wear an NBA champions ring. The 213 centimeters tall player has been earning his paycheck overseas for six seasons now. Last year he made the front page of several tabloids because of the mind-blowing salary that his contract with the San Antonio Spurs is guaranteeing him. But whowever has ever spoken more than two words with Rasho knows that money and fame have not changed him. He says that the NBA is just his job.
We met on a rainy Saturday evening, when he was getting ready with his childhood friends - a childhood that he spent in Ljubljana's most infamous neighborhood: Fuzine - to go out and explore what our capital has to offer in terms of night life (Fuzine is probably the worst neighborhood in Ljubljana. It's not a ghetto or anything extreme like that but it's were the communist regime built a lot of affordable low rent housing). Worn out Nike sneakers, a simple T-shirt and jeans that have seen better days were no indication that you were in the company of Slovenia's best paid athlete and a man that has his name for ever written in sport's history (she's laying it kinda thick - don't you think?).
His answers were slow and pensive, interrupted by the random sip of water. His gaze ranged from stern to a playful wink. You could not find on him any trace of all those zeros that decorate his paycheck. He has remained modest. (Angel, this girl is definitely a threat :) )
He makes no secret of the fact that he is delighted that he made it in the world's greatest basketball arena, but he never forgets where his climb to the top started.
He was in a good mood but somewhat reserved while he made sure with every answer that I understood he was not important, the only things important are the results.
Q: You just came back from Radovljica, where you played for the national team in a friendly game against Finland. How different is it from the NBA?
Rasho: NBA is my job; here in Slovenia I play more for the heart (playing for the heart=playing for pleasure). Over there the pressure is much higher, you have to constantly prove yourself. What happened yesterday doesn't count anymore; the only important thing is what you can bring to the game today and tomorrow.
Q: Was it difficult to get used to the American, NBA, way of life? Describe your typical day.
Rasho: I've lived in America for six years now so it has become my regular life. Everything is dedicated to work - the games and the training. I wake up in the morning, go to the training - it usually starts at 10:30 am and lasts approx 1,5 hour – then I'm free for the remaining of the day. It's similar on game days.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
Rasho: I have a few friends with whom I hang out sometimes. But these are not as good friends as those that I have in Slovenia. Most of my friends over here I have known since my childhood. I’ve only met my colleagues on the team now since we are all professional basketball players. Hanging out with friends in America is different than over here. (Although I agree with him, I must say that the hanging out part in SA is very much like over here - he must no frequent the right people obviously :lol ) Everybody lives his own individual life and we don’t come together that often. Sometimes I miss just hanging out with my friends just for a chat or to go for a drink, you know that sort of things.
Q: So you don’t fraternize much with you teammates?
Rasho: Much more than in Minnesota. There are quite a few foreigners on the team and we get along really well. On a general note, the atmosphere on the team is great. I was very lucky to be well received by everybody on the team.
Q: How about parties and receptions? Is that also part of your everyday?
Rasho: No, not really. With my teammates we go to parties mostly during away games. Your presence at different receptions is entirely your own decision. Nothing is mandatory but if you decide to go there are always perks – gifts and such - waiting for you.
Q: How is San Antonio? Now that you are the champs is the whole city living for basketball?
Rasho: San Antonio is a simple (simple as in uncomplicated) American city with approx. a million residents (Begin countdown to WRITER blowing a fuse...). It’s close to the Mexican border that is why many of its citizens are of Mexican descent. Everybody speaks Spanish some don’t even speak English. The city lives and dies by its Spurs, since it’s the only sport franchise that is representing the city at national level. When we won the championship, almost 400.000 people came out to greet us. It makes you really feel good, you’re happy that you had the opportunity to achieve something for all these people - for the community.
Q: How is the nightlife?
Rasho: Nothing unusual (nothing exciting could have been another translation although also not entirely correct), last call is at 2 am and then it’s over. Everything shuts down after that.
Q: You probably get recognized everywhere.
Rasho: Yes that’s true. Sometime it can be a burden. Everybody thinks they know you, everybody has something smart to say, they comment your game and dispense with a lot of advises, you have to remain polite and keep a smile on your face the whole time. People do not understand that basketball is my job, and since I don’t meddle with their jobs, why should they meddle with mine. But in all fairness there are many more nice people among the fans, the kind that only want to congratulate you or exchange a few words with you.
Q: It probably does help you get a good table in SA though.
Rasho: Yes or to make contact with some nice girl that you find attractive. (Laughs)
Q: Americans have transformed basketball into a show. As an athlete does this bother you?
Rasho: It’s a big business. It’s important that the arena is sold out and that you maximize the profit of every single game. Nothing is left to chance; even some of the cheering is not spontaneous. When the team enters the court the whole public cheers and screams for some time and then it stops and when the words “SCREAM” appear on the giant screens the whole thing starts anew. In Europe it’s more impromptu, everyone encourages his team in his own way, people start cheering of their own.
Q: Speaking of money, your salary was debated quite a lot over here.
Rasho: Yes it was, everybody likes to talk about how much I make and nobody wants to see how much work I had to put into it. I’m playing basketball since I was 8, at 15 I already had 2 trainings a day. Everybody thinks my success just fell into my lap. Success in basketball comes faster, but your life expectancy is also shorter than in most sports. I don’t even want to talk about the possible injuries. Anyway I’m not obsessed about money. I signed with the San Antonio Spurs for less than If I had stayed in Minnesota. Money isn’t everything, it is much more important how you feel when you play for the team.
Q: Who are your role models?
Rasho: There are quite a few, but Vlade Divac is definitely at the top of the list. He’s a great player and a great person. He has done a lot for all the ex-YU players, him and Drazen Petrovic opened wide the doors to the NBA for European players. Before them Americans were a bit weary of us. Now there are more and more Europeans in the NBA and an increasing number of players are also coming from Asia.
Q: How do you relax? How do you switch off from basketball?
Rasho: I like to watch some old Yugoslav comedies, to have a good laugh.
Q: What would you do if you weren’t a pro basketball player?
Rasho: I’d own a candy shop (Laughs). No, no, I never really thought about that. My whole life I always hoped I would succeed in basketball. If not in the NBA then at least in some European club.
Q: Do you intend to stay in the USA after your career?
Rasho: No, not for now, I don’t really have any reasons to stay. But you never know.
Q: How have you changed since you became an NBA player?
Rasho: I’ve matured. I’ve realized who my real friends are, I’ve learned to live alone and to be a better judge of people and situations.
Q: You have won the coveted ring, what now?
Rasho: I’d like to achieve as much as possible with the national team in the EC. I also would not mind adding a ring or two to my collection (Laughs).
1. Find a nice article about Rasho and make a thread about it.
2. Find a nice picture of Rasho and post it as your second post.
Success is guaranteed :lol
Seriously here's an article that was published in a Slovenian fashion magazine. The media has obviously noticed that our best paid athlete is still a bachelor.
The stuff in red are my comments since I couldn't always find the right words for an accurate translation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interview by Sasa Globacnik
Published in Modna Jana, October 2005
From Fuzine to the NBA
Rasho Nesterovich is the first Slovenian to wear an NBA champions ring. The 213 centimeters tall player has been earning his paycheck overseas for six seasons now. Last year he made the front page of several tabloids because of the mind-blowing salary that his contract with the San Antonio Spurs is guaranteeing him. But whowever has ever spoken more than two words with Rasho knows that money and fame have not changed him. He says that the NBA is just his job.
We met on a rainy Saturday evening, when he was getting ready with his childhood friends - a childhood that he spent in Ljubljana's most infamous neighborhood: Fuzine - to go out and explore what our capital has to offer in terms of night life (Fuzine is probably the worst neighborhood in Ljubljana. It's not a ghetto or anything extreme like that but it's were the communist regime built a lot of affordable low rent housing). Worn out Nike sneakers, a simple T-shirt and jeans that have seen better days were no indication that you were in the company of Slovenia's best paid athlete and a man that has his name for ever written in sport's history (she's laying it kinda thick - don't you think?).
His answers were slow and pensive, interrupted by the random sip of water. His gaze ranged from stern to a playful wink. You could not find on him any trace of all those zeros that decorate his paycheck. He has remained modest. (Angel, this girl is definitely a threat :) )
He makes no secret of the fact that he is delighted that he made it in the world's greatest basketball arena, but he never forgets where his climb to the top started.
He was in a good mood but somewhat reserved while he made sure with every answer that I understood he was not important, the only things important are the results.
Q: You just came back from Radovljica, where you played for the national team in a friendly game against Finland. How different is it from the NBA?
Rasho: NBA is my job; here in Slovenia I play more for the heart (playing for the heart=playing for pleasure). Over there the pressure is much higher, you have to constantly prove yourself. What happened yesterday doesn't count anymore; the only important thing is what you can bring to the game today and tomorrow.
Q: Was it difficult to get used to the American, NBA, way of life? Describe your typical day.
Rasho: I've lived in America for six years now so it has become my regular life. Everything is dedicated to work - the games and the training. I wake up in the morning, go to the training - it usually starts at 10:30 am and lasts approx 1,5 hour – then I'm free for the remaining of the day. It's similar on game days.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
Rasho: I have a few friends with whom I hang out sometimes. But these are not as good friends as those that I have in Slovenia. Most of my friends over here I have known since my childhood. I’ve only met my colleagues on the team now since we are all professional basketball players. Hanging out with friends in America is different than over here. (Although I agree with him, I must say that the hanging out part in SA is very much like over here - he must no frequent the right people obviously :lol ) Everybody lives his own individual life and we don’t come together that often. Sometimes I miss just hanging out with my friends just for a chat or to go for a drink, you know that sort of things.
Q: So you don’t fraternize much with you teammates?
Rasho: Much more than in Minnesota. There are quite a few foreigners on the team and we get along really well. On a general note, the atmosphere on the team is great. I was very lucky to be well received by everybody on the team.
Q: How about parties and receptions? Is that also part of your everyday?
Rasho: No, not really. With my teammates we go to parties mostly during away games. Your presence at different receptions is entirely your own decision. Nothing is mandatory but if you decide to go there are always perks – gifts and such - waiting for you.
Q: How is San Antonio? Now that you are the champs is the whole city living for basketball?
Rasho: San Antonio is a simple (simple as in uncomplicated) American city with approx. a million residents (Begin countdown to WRITER blowing a fuse...). It’s close to the Mexican border that is why many of its citizens are of Mexican descent. Everybody speaks Spanish some don’t even speak English. The city lives and dies by its Spurs, since it’s the only sport franchise that is representing the city at national level. When we won the championship, almost 400.000 people came out to greet us. It makes you really feel good, you’re happy that you had the opportunity to achieve something for all these people - for the community.
Q: How is the nightlife?
Rasho: Nothing unusual (nothing exciting could have been another translation although also not entirely correct), last call is at 2 am and then it’s over. Everything shuts down after that.
Q: You probably get recognized everywhere.
Rasho: Yes that’s true. Sometime it can be a burden. Everybody thinks they know you, everybody has something smart to say, they comment your game and dispense with a lot of advises, you have to remain polite and keep a smile on your face the whole time. People do not understand that basketball is my job, and since I don’t meddle with their jobs, why should they meddle with mine. But in all fairness there are many more nice people among the fans, the kind that only want to congratulate you or exchange a few words with you.
Q: It probably does help you get a good table in SA though.
Rasho: Yes or to make contact with some nice girl that you find attractive. (Laughs)
Q: Americans have transformed basketball into a show. As an athlete does this bother you?
Rasho: It’s a big business. It’s important that the arena is sold out and that you maximize the profit of every single game. Nothing is left to chance; even some of the cheering is not spontaneous. When the team enters the court the whole public cheers and screams for some time and then it stops and when the words “SCREAM” appear on the giant screens the whole thing starts anew. In Europe it’s more impromptu, everyone encourages his team in his own way, people start cheering of their own.
Q: Speaking of money, your salary was debated quite a lot over here.
Rasho: Yes it was, everybody likes to talk about how much I make and nobody wants to see how much work I had to put into it. I’m playing basketball since I was 8, at 15 I already had 2 trainings a day. Everybody thinks my success just fell into my lap. Success in basketball comes faster, but your life expectancy is also shorter than in most sports. I don’t even want to talk about the possible injuries. Anyway I’m not obsessed about money. I signed with the San Antonio Spurs for less than If I had stayed in Minnesota. Money isn’t everything, it is much more important how you feel when you play for the team.
Q: Who are your role models?
Rasho: There are quite a few, but Vlade Divac is definitely at the top of the list. He’s a great player and a great person. He has done a lot for all the ex-YU players, him and Drazen Petrovic opened wide the doors to the NBA for European players. Before them Americans were a bit weary of us. Now there are more and more Europeans in the NBA and an increasing number of players are also coming from Asia.
Q: How do you relax? How do you switch off from basketball?
Rasho: I like to watch some old Yugoslav comedies, to have a good laugh.
Q: What would you do if you weren’t a pro basketball player?
Rasho: I’d own a candy shop (Laughs). No, no, I never really thought about that. My whole life I always hoped I would succeed in basketball. If not in the NBA then at least in some European club.
Q: Do you intend to stay in the USA after your career?
Rasho: No, not for now, I don’t really have any reasons to stay. But you never know.
Q: How have you changed since you became an NBA player?
Rasho: I’ve matured. I’ve realized who my real friends are, I’ve learned to live alone and to be a better judge of people and situations.
Q: You have won the coveted ring, what now?
Rasho: I’d like to achieve as much as possible with the national team in the EC. I also would not mind adding a ring or two to my collection (Laughs).