Show in front. Dribbles between the legs, blind passes, baskets out of who knows where … Here is the 3 × 3 basketball – two teams of three who face each other on a half-court with only one basket -, the one that made Dusan Bulut the star of his sport. At 35, the Serbian intends to crown his career with a gold medal in Tokyo, the first distributed by the new discipline on the Olympic program. For him it is already written: “It will be like a kind of cycle that ends, with the most beautiful of rewards. “
A childhood at the foot of the towers
Bragging is part of the game. Street basketball, rolling mechanics, attitude boy. “It’s a whole culture that I adore, assures the champion. A music, a fashion, a whole community around. It inspires me all day. “ It must be said that this basketball, the guy grew up with, essential companion of his days, of all his days.
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The backdrop to Dusan Bulut’s childhood is his district of Liman, in Novi Sad, on the left bank of the Danube. An urbanization typical of the communist period, with tall, tall buildings. Locals call the area the “Bronx”. The humor of despair in the 1990s when Yugoslavia was breaking up. Concrete and nothing else except, almost at the bottom of each block, a basketball court.
His legacy for young people
Dusan spends all his time there, dreams at night of the exploits of the players of the American NBA, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson in the lead, which he sees on television. “There wasn’t much good around me, he often says. So it was a way of escaping from reality. “ In college, however, he decided to go further and devote himself to his sport. Otherwise what ? The parents nod. Dusan is working extra hard. Cool sport, but crazy work. He manages to imitate the big brothers of the NBA, but remaining faithful to the street, and to this particular 3 × 3 basketball.
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He has won, a lot, with his team from Novi Sad since the creation of the World Tour in 2012. And won all the titles with Serbia too. So now he returns. Dusan Bulut participates in the renovation of grounds in Novi Sad, with local artists who add their paw. He organizes tournaments there, does not hesitate to come and inflate the enthusiasm of the kids who only have eyes for the big brother. “These fields will remain after my career is over, and that’s what makes me really proud and happy. “
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