Dzanan Musa: "I had no childhood"

• LUCAS SAEZ-BRAVO

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  @LucasSaezBravo

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Updated Wednesday, February 16, 2022-11:08

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At 22 years old,

(Bihac, Bosnia, 1999) has already lived a handful of lives.

That of the son of a soldier, marked by the ravages of the Balkan war.

The precocious talent with the spotlight and comparisons since he wasn't even a teenager.

That of the too young and inexperienced boy whom the NBA devours without mercy.

And now, as if centuries of all that had passed, he stars in a remote Galician city of which he had never heard the story of the Phoenix Bird.

"I didn't have a childhood. It's as if I had become an adult at 12 years old. So now I feel like I'm 40," explains the ACB's fashionable player, the guy who tomorrow (9:30 p.m., #Vamos) challenges Real Madrid in the Cup with the recently promoted Río Breogán.

At the age of 11, he left Bizac, leaving his family behind. It was very hard, imagine.

Now when many people ask me if I would do it again... I don't know if I could.

Away from my parents, from my friends.

Go to a big city (Sarajevo), live alone so young.

But, at the end of the day, I had basketball, I was fulfilling my dream.

Everything happens for a reason in life.

If I look back, I didn't have a childhood, I never had time to play, to go out with friends, I was always training.

But now I'm enjoying what I do and it's thanks to those days. How do you remember that not so distant childhood? It was quite strange.

At 12 or 13 years old it's as if I had already become an adult, I felt like I was 20. So now maybe I'm 40 (laughs).

It was hard to deal with everything, I didn't really have a childhood, I was training all the time, twice a day,

six or seven hours a day.

It was hard, but at the same time I feel lucky.

Because of that decision, now I can be happy being a professional player.

His father was a soldier in the Balkan War. Yes, he has told me many things.

Many sad and bad things about what he happened to our country and to all those around us.

He feels that it is the worst thing that can happen to you in life and hopefully it will never happen again.

It was a horrible thing, but that has helped me to know that I can be a leader in my life.

Because he was a leader there.

Now I feel like I can be too, but in basketball. When he was a teenager, a rising star, everyone compared him to

, who is now his friend.

Was that a lot of pressure? No, no.

For me playing basketball never had pressure.

I enjoy it.

Pressure is when people don't have a job and can't do anything, and they don't know if they will have enough to eat the next day.

For me, pressure is that.

What was it like coming to the NBA at 18? It was tough, of course.

He was young, he expected and they expected a lot and not everything turned out the way he wanted.

But as I told you before, in the end I feel like everything happens for a reason.

And that has helped me a lot in my experience.

And you never know, maybe in three or five years I'll be back there, because I'm showing everyone now that I can play at the highest level. Is coming back one of your goals? I don't know.

My goal is to make the smartest decisions possible to continue enjoying basketball.

Starting next season I want to play there or at the highest European level, it's time.

Musa debuted in the Euroleague at the age of 16 (Cedevita), was 29th in the 2018 draft and at 19 he wore the Brooklyn Nets jersey.

At 21 he was back, in the ranks of the European champion, hardly playing.

Suitors were not lacking, but he surprisingly opted for the Breogán, a recently promoted, where he has exploded.

He is the best player in the ACB, from exhibition to exhibition, like last Sunday against Valencia.

He is averaging 19.8 points and 4.5 rebounds and the raffle for his talent is open.

And yet, nothing indicates that he is going to leave the Galicians stranded in the middle of the battle: "A great miracle is needed for him to change his environment during this season" (words from his media agent

).

Would you have imagined something like that when you signed for Breogán? Poof.

It was hard to imagine anything, because he didn't know much about the Breogán.

He knew that he just got promoted to the ACB.

When I arrived in Lugo, after five days I had already realized that it was a basketball city, that the fans are wonderful, one of the best fans in the League.

People here love basketball and I love basketball, so that makes us have a lot in common.

I am happy here.

It's a nice story, we win matches, we're in the Cup. When was the first time in your life that you heard something about Lugo? To be honest, when one of my teammates in the Bosnian national team,

, played for Breogán (2017 to 2019).

He told me that there was a great atmosphere here.

Afterwards, I heard crazy stories about the fans and how amazing the pavilion was.

Only that.But when he signed, did he know anything about the city or Galicia?Nothing.

I remember that when I arrived, everyone was talking about the octopus.

I was very surprised by the energy of the people and how beautiful the city was, its culture.

And we have octopus, which is one of the main reasons I love the city.

Wherever I go I always ask for octopus.

It is a tradition. Did you feel that it was a step backwards in your career? This has been the best decision of my career.

Of course I was nervous, before I came here I didn't know what to expect, but I soon realized that it was for the best.

The opportunity to play in the best league in Europe and lead this team to the Cup,

I hope that also until the playoffs.

Being part of a historic season, being in Lugo's history books is a great feeling, it's special. He came from Efes, from the Euroleague champion.

Why Lugo? Me and my agent Raznatovic talk a lot.

I trust him a lot.

He told me that this could be a great opportunity, to come here and show everyone that he could perform at the highest level in Europe.

Of course he had other good deals, but we decided this might be the best.

I told him a few days ago, this has been the best decision of my life.

This only increases my confidence in him and in his decisions. The feeling is that he has regained his happiness, his smile playing basketball. That's right.

Right now I feel very happy, I have regained my self-confidence.

It is the feeling of being born again for basketball,

That's how I feel at the Breogán.

Wherever I go after Lugo, I will always remember that in this city I was born again for basketball. He is 22 years old, he played in the NBA, in the Euroleague... Has everything in his life gone too fast? These decisions... as it was supposed to be.

When you're a basketball star you have a lot of pressure on you.

I do not regret anything, I would do the same again if I had the opportunity.

I have a very happy life.

Especially now, I'm very happy. Have you been told a lot about the Cup? Yes!

And I have seen it for many years from outside of Spain.

The finals between Real Madrid and Barcelona are always very intense, it's a beautiful tournament, very special.

I feel very honored to be able to compete in the Cup. What is Breogán's secret? That we are a family.

We fight every game

we fight for every basket and we have great fans behind us.

It's a great and beautiful story.

I feel like the leader.

I think that is what many expect of me and he accepted this role. Is it possible to surprise Real Madrid in Granada? Anything is possible!

In basketball, anything is possible, especially in these kinds of tournaments.

Obviously, it would be a big surprise, something incredible, a crazy story.

But why not?

When the game starts and we go out on the field, we will go zero to zero.

It's about fighting for every basket, for every defense, every minute and everything is possible.

Of course, Madrid is the big favourite, even to win the Cup.

Is it possible to surprise Real Madrid in Granada? Anything is possible!

In basketball, anything is possible, especially in these kinds of tournaments.

Obviously, it would be a big surprise, something incredible, a crazy story.

But why not?

When the game starts and we go out on the field, we will go zero to zero.

It's about fighting for every basket, for every defense, every minute and everything is possible.

Of course, Madrid is the big favourite, even to win the Cup.

Is it possible to surprise Real Madrid in Granada? Anything is possible!

In basketball, anything is possible, especially in these kinds of tournaments.

Obviously, it would be a big surprise, something incredible, a crazy story.

But why not?

When the game starts and we go out on the field, we will go zero to zero.

It's about fighting for every basket, for every defense, every minute and everything is possible.

Of course, Madrid is the big favourite, even to win the Cup.

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