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Efes head coach Igor Kokoskov was asked about the NBA Europe project and highlighted their commitment to competing at the highest level. “Us as a team, Efes as a club, I know the management, the general manager, the president, they’re exploring all options. We are happy where we are, but we’ll see what the future brings,” Kokoskov explained. “Efes club, with its history, the expectations, and ambitions, deserves to play in the top league in the world. Right now, we’re in the 2nd-best league in the world, that’s EuroLeague, and we’re happy where we are.”
Having coached in the NBA and served as a long-time assistant, Kokoskov is no stranger to the league across the Atlantic. “I think that it’s the landscape of the world, basketball is gonna change. And the epicenter of world basketball is the NBA,” he said. “Financially, they control the market, they will explore options to expand their business in Europe.”
In the post-game press conference, Efes head coach Igor Kokoskov was asked about the NBA Europe project and highlighted their commitment to competing at the highest level. “Us as a team, Efes as a club, I know the management, the general manager, the president, they’re exploring all options. We are happy where we are, but we’ll see what the future brings,” Kokoskov explained. “Efes club, with its history, the expectations, and ambitions, deserves to play in the top league in the world. Right now, we’re in the 2nd-best league in the world, that’s EuroLeague, and we’re happy where we are.”
“I think that it’s the landscape of the world, basketball is gonna change. And the epicenter of world basketball is the NBA,” he said. “Financially, they control the market, they will explore options to expand their business in Europe.”
Ahead of EuroLeague Round 3 against Partizan, Anadolu Efes head coach Igor Kokoskov addressed several important topics regarding European basketball, speaking to Serbian media. The former NBA coach — the first non-American to lead an NBA team with the Phoenix Suns and a longtime assistant in the world’s top league — spoke about circumstances in European basketball, touching on the subject that EuroLeague has often been called a veterans’ league — a competition for older players. “That’s a topic that deserves a deeper analysis. Europe will pay the price for not having the courage to play young players. We’re scratching our heads over what’s happening in college basketball, where players receive both education and money. Luckily, not all of them will go to the NBA, but they’ll go to America at 17 or 18… The only way we can keep them is to offer something better. And you can’t be mad at EuroLeague coaches for lacking courage — look, we’re only two rounds into the EuroLeague, and some coaches are already on the hot seat. We need to look at the bigger picture. But here, there is no bigger picture. Every game feels like a final. That’s where Europe is paying the price,” Kokoskov said, per Meridian sport.
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Anadolu Efes has officially appointed Serbian coach Igor Kokoskov as the club’s new head coach, signing him to a three-year contract. Kokoskov arrives in Istanbul after spending the past season as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks under Quin Snyder. The experienced tactician has coached multiple national teams, including Georgia, Serbia, and most notably Slovenia, whom he led to the EuroBasket title in 2017.
Anadolu Efes is starting a new chapter by appointing Igor Kokoskov as head coach, marking his return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The Serbian tactician replaces Luca Banchi. Kokoskov most recently worked alongside Quin Snyder as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks, but he brings deep European credentials to the job.
Doncic's foundation is getting guidance from a Youth Sports Leadership Council, a group that includes his agent Bill Duffy, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, former Slovenia national team coach and current Atlanta Hawks assistant Igor Kokoskov, and Hall of Famers Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady and Dirk Nowitzki.
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The NBA is a global league, with European influences that go back decades. It’s not that surprising that there will now have been two European head coaches — even after friend and fellow Serbian Igor Kokoskov was rinsed from Phoenix after a 19-63 season in 2018-19. Given the last five MVP awards have been won by internationally trained players and so many elements of the current playing style have roots in the international game, it would border on malpractice if organizations didn’t at least consider international candidates in their coaching searches. But even in Europe, Rajakovic’s hiring was greeted with curiosity and maybe even some trepidation. Rajakovic doesn’t have a slew of World Cup medals or EuroLeague titles on his resume. His last job in Spain was coaching in the fourth division. His North American head coaching peak was leading the Tulsa 66ers to the second round of the 2013 G League playoffs.
Actually, the most decorated European coach, currently at the helm of Partizan Belgrade, Zeljko Obradovic, revealed that Jokic followed his seminar, and the Joker confirmed it. He watched a couple of seminars, apparently all from Serbian coaches. “I don’t watch a lot of seminars, but I like to look them up. I was watching Obradovic and a couple of other coaches, such as Dusan Alimpijevic, who’s now coaching Besiktas. I watched Igor Kokoskov, who is in Atlanta now. I watched a couple of seminars. If you want to be good, you need to be a fanatic in basketball; that needs to be your life, and I like to see something different; why not?” Jokic explained to Adam Mares.
Eric Walden: Confirmation from the Hawks that Bryan Bailey and Sanjay Lumpkin, who were on Will Hardy’s Jazz staff last season, are joining Quin Snyder in Atlanta. Snyder’s staff also includes ex-Jazz assistants Igor Kokoskov, Antonio Lang, and Jeff Watkinson, plus ex-Jazz player Ekpe Udoh. pic.twitter.com/wYBlLcsceU
Confirmation from the Hawks that Bryan Bailey and Sanjay Lumpkin, who were on Will Hardy’s Jazz staff last season, are joining Quin Snyder in Atlanta. Snyder’s staff also includes ex-Jazz assistants Igor Kokoskov, Antonio Lang, and Jeff Watkinson, plus ex-Jazz player Ekpe Udoh. pic.twitter.com/wYBlLcsceU
— tribjazz (@tribjazz) June 14, 2023