Cody Fumes at Reporter's Question: "What Pressure, Man?! Pressure is When Someone is Dying! Real People Doing Real Jobs Have It"

Pulse Sports Team 22:16 - 02 April 2026

Crvena Zvezda basketball players failed to secure a victory in the second Eternal Derby of the season, losing 89:82 in front of their home crowd. After the game, a visibly displeased Cody Miller-McIntyre spoke to reporters.

You could follow the Eternal Derby between Crvena Zvezda and Partizan live on Sportal.

The American with a Bulgarian passport was one of the few red-and-white players who performed well, finishing the game with 24 points and nine assists. However, even that wasn't enough for a victory, and after the derby, he tried to explain to reporters what went wrong.

"We have to stay focused for all 40 minutes. I feel like in the last two minutes, we weren't focused, including our fans. I'll say that too. You know, the last minute and a half isn't the time for us to go at each other – teammates against teammates, fans against anyone... Whatever happened. We have to stick together. We're fighting for something big, and this game doesn't stop here. We have three more games, and we need everyone." - Cody Miller-McIntyre

When a journalist suggested this was a "do-or-die" game for Crvena Zvezda, Cody responded curtly.

"The last two months, every game has felt like 'do-or-die'."

Media representatives were interested in whether Crvena Zvezda's problems were more basketball-related or psychological.

"I think it's a mix of both. A mix of both, but I think tonight it was mental. You know, you have to stay focused step by step, no matter what happens. We cut the lead to three points, and the energy felt like we were defeated. The game isn't over until the final buzzer. You have to keep fighting until then, especially when the game is this close. One turnover, one made shot, one steal... That's all we really needed in the last 30 seconds and... yeah."

A question followed about whether the pressure was too great on him and his teammates before the Eternal Derby.

"What pressure, man? There's no pressure. Pressure is when someone is dying. I've said that before. Don't ask me that again. There's no pressure. This is basketball. It's basketball. We don't have pressure from the fans."

The journalist then tried to rephrase the question, but Zvezda's point guard maintained the same stance.

"No, it's not pressure. As I said, what we lacked was the mentality that the game isn't over. There's no pressure in basketball. You have pressure, other people have pressure, real people doing real jobs have pressure. We come out here and play a game we love. There's no pressure in that for any of us. It was a mentality issue and a misunderstanding that the game isn't over until the clock in the fourth quarter shows zero."

Crvena Zvezda has three more games left in the EuroLeague regular season, so the American was asked how difficult it would be to rise to those challenges.

"It won't be difficult at all. As I said, I'll go eat something, wake up tomorrow... I hope I wake up tomorrow, you never know, the world is crazy. You wake up tomorrow, it's a new day, and you get over it. We had a chance to do something, this is the fourth or fifth chance we've missed, but we have three more games. That's the beauty of basketball. That's why there's no pressure. Pressure is when you wake up and don't have another chance to fix things. We have chances. So..."

Finally, Miller-McIntyre emphasized that he is still convinced Zvezda will make the playoffs.