During the upset victory over Lithuania in the knockout phase of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Serbia played without big man Borisa Simanić.
Simanić, a 25-year-old power forward who last played for Basket Zaragoza in Spain, was injured during a game against South Sudan on Aug. 30. He was struck in the kidney and immediately felt the impact of the injury.
Here are more details about what we know so far (via USA TODAY):
“The injury occurred in a group stage match Wednesday, the federation said, during Serbia’s 115-83 victory over South Sudan. According to ESPN, the injury occurred when South Sudan’s Nuni Omot elbowed Simanić, who immediately fell to the court in pain.
Simanić underwent surgery overnight and he remained in the Makati Medical Center in Manila for observation. Simanić, however, faced complications resulting from the first surgery and the determination was made to have the second procedure to remove the entire kidney.”
That is an incredibly scary series of events for Simanić and the Serbian national team.
“This is for Borisa, as well.” ❤️#FIBAWC x #WinForSrbija 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/FVmZ1xDk36
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 5, 2023
So that is why it was especially significant for Atlanta Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic to begin his press conference after defeating Lithuania by giving a shoutout to (and update about) Simanić.
This is what Bogdanovic had to say about the Serbian big man:
“I want to start just to say something from this morning. Our teammate, who is still with us, Borisa Simanic, he gave us amazing energy. We were nervous yesterday. … And I see the message from Borisa in the morning after the meeting, a long meeting. He was: ‘Guy, I’m good. Don’t worry. Let’s win tonight.’ And for him just to think about us after everything that happened to him, he united us, I would say. That’s [an] amazing guy and this is for him as well.”
Those are strong words from Bogdanovic, who obviously had Simanić on his mind during the crucial victory over Lithuania that will send Serbia to play in the semifinals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
