“Some say that I joined the NBA too soon and that I should have spent more time in Europe, where I could have had a nice career. But I don’t regret anything. If I lived through everything again, I’d make the same decisions,” said Brezec, who had played for the national team in five major tournaments. He regrets never winning a medal with the team, but he’s proud of the current generation of players, whom he supported from the seats in Istanbul.

“My former teammates and I still have a strong bond, and I stay in touch with almost all of them. Unfortunately, we were never able to put that cherry on top, which is what the national team did last year. I’ll never forget the European Championships in Poland, when we aware so close yet so far in our semifinal against Serbia, but that’s the nature of sport. I’m so happy for the guys; their achievement last year was incredible. As I’ve said, we’ve perhaps forgotten their achievement too soon. We still don’t realize that we are the European Champions,” said Brezec, who quickly found a new job, and is now a scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brezec played his final game for his home team in Sežana, which he joined for the 17th round game in the Second Slovenian League against Plama Pur. He secured a victory for Mesarija Prunk with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

In the 1996-1997 season, he received his big break playing for what was then known as Kraški Zidar. Wearing a red-white jersey with the number seven, which he had inherited from father Hilari, also a basketball player, who wore the number on most of his jerseys over the course of his career, during which he played for 15 teams. Primož Brezec performed well for Sežana and joined Olimpija in 1998. When he played for his first team, he was the power forward, but in Ljubljana, he moved under the basket and became the center.

The third Slovenian player in the NBA
From Ljubljana, he moved to the NBA, where he was the third Slovenian after Marko Milić and Rašo Nesterović. In 2000, he was the 27th pick of the Indiana Pacers. “When I was doing my trials in the U.S. after my second season with Olimpija, I was assured by Indiana that I would be picked in the first round of the draft. They told me not to take part in any trials. So I stayed in Florida and practiced. My wife Nada, who was then still my fiancée, joined me there. We watched the draft alongside Aleksandar Radojević, who also played for Olimpija later on, and another friend. The mood was great, and I have fond memories of that time.” The 2.16-meter high native of the Primorska region had to wait for his first real opportunity with the NBA. “I started on the injured list in Indiana, even though I wasn’t injured. I simply didn’t make it among the best 12. In the tenth game or thereabouts, I got the chance in Boston and I scored my first points,” remembers Brezec, who got his big break when Charlotte, a new team, joined the NBA.

Playing in Cyprus and Asia
He learned just how quickly things can change in the NBA when he left Charlotte for Detroit and was then transferred to Toronto, where he played with Nesterović. However, Brezec did not get many opportunities in Canada. He then moved back to Europe. He was in talks with Olimpija, but sports director Dejan Bodiroga convinced him to play for Virtus of Rome, where he played alongside Sani Bečirović. He made another attempt at playing for the NBA, but he describes his stints in Philadelphia and Milwaukee as those of a “tourist.”

He had more success in Russia, where he played for Red Wings of Samara, Lokomotiv of Kuban, and Nizhniy Novgorod. His two seasons there were very successful, and he helped Nizhniy Novgorod to make it to the Euroleague. After that, he didn’t play for seven months and he considered ending his career, but he instead moved to Cyprus, where he excelled. He helped to make AEK of Larnaca the National and the Cup Champion, and his jersey will now be raised to the ceiling. He then accepted an invitation by Milić and moved to Kuwait, where he played in a tournament of the Gulf States. He played his last game before his farewell in Sežana for Al Ahli of Bahrain.