"Nikola and Miloš are symbols of Crvena Zvezda!" Drčelić on major changes and a new beginning at Mali Kalemegdan

Nikola Kalinić is one of the most significant players in our club's history. This isn't an end, but a new beginning, and I am particularly proud that our people are returning or staying with the club, contributing their quality, experience, and everything they've gained over years as great players. Kalina remains a part of Crvena Zvezda. Our coaching staff is strengthened by the strongest link, a man who has shown his love for Crvena Zvezda through his actions on the court. He will bring immense value with his understanding of the club, his authority, energy, and basketball knowledge. I wish him to reach at least the same heights in this new challenge as he did as a player. The greatest players depart gracefully, on their own terms, knowing when it's time to give their club a new dimension off the court. Just as they had a perfect feel for the game on the court, they recognized and understood when it was time for new roles. The greatest recognize this. Fortunately for the club, all Zvezda fans, and myself personally, we have strengthened ourselves this summer with two such basketball legends and true Zvezda supporters.

Who better to understand what Crvena Zvezda needs to be great than those who love this club, were an important part of it as players, wish it the best, and have already reached the highest basketball echelons? Nikola Kalinić and Miloš Teodosić are symbols of our Crvena Zvezda. Now, off the court, each in their own role, they bring experience, knowledge, a winning mentality, authority, unique personalities, and new energy. For our club and me personally, the return and retention of such greats, first and foremost as Zvezda fans and then as world and European basketball legends, is a gain of such importance that many cannot yet fully grasp it. Their presence at KK Crvena Zvezda is also an acknowledgment that we are doing things right, and that our ideas for what our Crvena Zvezda should look like in the future are perfectly aligned. We have a good team, a good coach, our fans who are the best sixth man in Europe, and we have created conditions that rival much wealthier European clubs. Now we also have Teo and Kalina off the court and within the club. I am not one who believes in luck – but in hard work, dedication, mutual trust, shared belief, and a common goal.

From that perspective, Nikola and Miloš, along with Milan Tomić and everyone else in the club, have my complete trust! Crvena Zvezda today, with the people who work for and represent it, embodies what I believe our club should stand for and what it should strive for to become even greater! We have everything we need to continue growing as a club. I call on all Zvezda fans to give us their support, to believe in what we are doing because together we can truly achieve a lot,” said the red-and-whites' top man on this very important day for our club and all Zvezda fans. Željko Drčelić

"Kalina" dedicated a significant part of his playing career and his best years to our Crvena Zvezda, helping it reach new heights and numerous trophies! Zvezda fans, and indeed all basketball enthusiasts in Europe and Serbia, know what Nikola Kalinić brought: He was a man who gave his all on the court, contributing everything – points, rebounds, assists, self-sacrifice, fighting spirit, tough defense, and the understanding of how challenging, yet rewarding, it is to wear the Crvena Zvezda jersey. Nikola Kalinić was born on November 8, 1991, in Subotica. He began his career there as a Spartak player, later playing for Radnički, Vojvodina, Fenerbahçe, Valencia, Barcelona… and Crvena Zvezda, where he had three stints (287 games, 2646 points). He won two triple crowns and two Radivoj Korać Cups, along with numerous unforgettable moments, starting with the three-pointer in the third game of the ABA League playoff semi-finals against Partizan that initiated a 12-0 run, then the three-pointer in an empty Pionir in the fifth game of the 2022 playoff finals, to the unforgettable first half in Milan last season where he did everything in 20 minutes, sparked the entire team, and reminded everyone who he was and what he represented. A career in which he won the EuroLeague in 2017 and was the final game's MVP, along with 19 other club and individual trophies, silver medals at the World Cup and Olympic Games (2014 and 2016) – concludes in red and white!