When Predrag Danilovic joined Virtus Bologna in the summer of 1992, it was like a lightning bolt struck the Italian basketball scene. Virtus became a powerhouse, dominating the league every season he suited up for them.
Alfredo Cazzola, who bought the team a year earlier, set his sights on leading it back to the top (Virtus had not won the championship since 1984) and after watching Benetton Treviso crowned champions for the first time in their history, led by Toni Kukoc, he realized that he needed to acquire a foreign player who would make a difference. There could not have been a more ideal player than Danilovic, who in 1992 led Partizan to EuroLeague glory as the Final 4 MVP and also played a starring role in Virtus’ elimination in the quarter-finals of the competition.
The then 22-year-old shooting guard signed a lavish contract that earned him $900,000 per year and on the court he proved he was more than worth it, as his signing had immediate results for Virtus, which was known as Knorr Bologna because of its sponsor. He scored 19 points in his debut and his team made the first of nine consecutive wins, beating Dejan Bodiroga’s Stefanel Trieste 82-70. His next six performances made Virtus fans realize that their team got a truly great player, as they saw him load the basket of Caserta (70-64) with 25 points, he scored 26 against Venezia (95-87), 25 against Scavolini Pesaro (77-60), 27 versus Montecatini (88-75), 35 versus Pistoia (81-69) and 24 against Rimini (81-71).
On week 11 Virtus beat Dino Radja’s Roma 101-90 with 22 points from Danilovic, who in the next game scored 37 in a 78-67 win over Livorno, while on week 14 thanks to his 29 points his team beat Aleksandar Djordjevic’s Philips Milano 84-83. He followed with 30 points in a 91-78 win over Caserta for the 16th, 31 in a 90-88 win over Torino for the 28th, and 34 on 7/9 three-pointers in a 95-87 win over Fabriano for the 30th and final game. So with their new leader averaging 23.3 points, Virtus finished first in the regular season with 24 wins and 6 losses, leaving Philips Milano (21-9) and Benetton Treviso (19-11) behind.
In the playoffs, Danilovic was held under 20 points once and averaged 25.6 per game to lead the team to the title without a loss. He scored 22 in the first game (103-83) against Pistoia, 29 in the second (96-95), 28 (84-77) against Cantu, 29 on 7/8 threes in the second (93-87), and won his duel with Kukoc in the finals. In the first game his 19 points were enough for Virtus to defeat Benetton 97-80, in the second he scored 24 to get another victory (108-97) and in the third (117-83) his 28 points sealed the championship. That was just the beginning. In 1994 Virtus changed coach with Alberto Bucci returning to the bench after eight years (he was the coach with whom they had won the 1984 championship) to replace his then-assistant Ettore Messina, who had moved on to the Italian national team. The team also changed sponsor and as a result, was now known as Buckler Bologna.
Competitively, however, it was not affected at all. Danilovic scored 21 points against Roma (99-74), 23 against Reggio Calabria (77-69), 22 against Verona (81-71), 24 against Pistoia (114-83), and 31 in the derby against fellow citizens Fortitudo Bologna (75-72), who had just been promoted from the A2 League and were known as Filodoro because of their sponsor, Virtus started the season with five straight wins. The two consecutive defeats that followed against Caserta and Scavolini did not get the team out of its way. Immediately afterwards they started a new winning streak with Danilovic showing no mercy to their opponents. He scorched Livorno (82-71) with 26 points, Reggio Emilia (104-93) with 36, Benetton Treviso (88-76) with 30, Venezia (102-71) with 33, Recoaro Milano (96-87) with 27 and Cantu (86-81) with as many.
All this in the first round. In the second, after scoring 38 points in the opening game loss to Roma, he got injured and missed the next four games. When he returned, Virtus made it eight straight wins and lost again on the last day of the season to Montecatini. His top performances during that time included 30 points in a 96-77 win over Livorno for Week 23, 34 in a 97-85 win over Milano for Week 27, and 28 in a 92-87 win against Stefanel Trieste for Week 29. Virtus, with Danilovic averaging 25.1 points per game, again led the regular season at 24-6 followed by Scavolini Pesaro (21-9), Stefanel (20-10), and Verona (20-10).
In the playoffs this time, Virtu’s task was more difficult. They shut out Benetton 2-0 with Danilovic scoring 29 points in the first (86-82) game and 21 in the second (76-75) and had a tough time against Verona as well. They won 79-72 in the first game thanks to his 20 points but lost 72-69 in the second because he was held to 14. Bologna eventually qualified for the finals by winning 77-55 with 21 points from Danilovic. Scavolini proved to be a tough nut to crack and took the title fight to game 5. Danilovic, however, was impressive when he had to be. He scored 20 points in the first game to help Virtus win 85-80, had 29 in the 87-81 loss in the second, scored 33 in the third in his team’s new 88-76 victory, and after his 19 points weren’t enough in the fourth (Scavolini won 73-66), he stopped at 33 again in the fifth to help Virtus prevail 79-68 and retain the champion’s crown.
The system of the Italian League was changed in 1995 with the teams being reduced from 16 to 14 and after 26 regular season games a second phase of six matches was held to determine the final standings. The competition grew, but Danilovic was unbeatable and Virtus was not particularly bothered. The five consecutive victories with which it started the season once again sent a clear message to all its opponents. Danilovic scored 30 points in the 88-70 win over Montecatini, 32 in the 97-73 win over Roma, 31 in the 93-76 win over Siena, 28 in the 92-68 win over Reggio Emilia, 29 in the 84-72 win over Benetton Treviso and in total he surpassed the 30 points mark five times in the first eight games.
He returned after a minor injury that left him out of action for two games with 34 points in an 84-76 win over Pistoia and closed the first round with his best performance in Italian courts up to this point, as he scored 41 points in a 94-73 win over Stefanel Milano. In the second round, he didn’t relax at all. He scored 34 points on Roma for the 15th game, 32 on Scavolini for the 21st, 30 on Pistoia for the 23rd, and 31 on Stefanel for the 25th, while not once dropping below 20. Virtus won in order 88-75, 86-75, 86-75, 98-83, and 89-78 the games mentioned above and in the second phase they went 6/6 with Danilovic dropping 28 points on Reggio Emilia (88-65), 27 on Scavolini (92-78), 27 on Filodoro Bologna (82-70), 29 on Montecatini (89-83), 26 on Varese (100-75) and 26 on Illycaffe’ Trieste (97-82). In his 27 appearances, he averaged 29.1 points and his team was again first in the regular season standings at 25-7, above Filodoro Bologna (23-9), Benetton Treviso (22-10), and Stefanel Milano (20-12).
The latter was even their most difficult opponent in the playoffs. After shutting out Roma 2-0, with Danilovic scoring 11 points in the first game (82-79) and 27 in the second (80-72), Virtus needed five games to overcome Stefanel’s obstacle on their way to the finals. They won the first 93-80 with 29 points from Danilovic, lost the second 76-59 despite his 27 points, in the third he led them to a 90-78 victory by scoring 24 points, in the fourth Stefanel held him to 15 and crushed his team 96-71 and in the fifth his 24 points helped them to break their resistance 87-79. Benetton was not as competitive. Danilovic’s 22 points helped Virtus win the first game 84-68, another 22 points won the second 83-77 and the third (95-82) saw him reach 40 and give them their third consecutive championship.
This was his parting gift, as after the end of the season he decided to try his luck in the NBA by signing with the Miami Heat and with very good financial terms (8 million dollars for four years). The Heat believed in him and made him their starting shooting guard from the start, but he was unlucky. After 19 games and while he was averaging 13.4 points shooting 43.6% from three-point range coming off a tremendous performance in which he scored 30 points (his personal NBA record) on 6/9 three-pointers in a 94-92 win over the Phoenix Suns, he injured his right wrist and had to undergo surgery. He was out of action for four months and when he returned, in addition to his form, he had lost his spot in the starting five. The following season, however, he regained it but he was not as effective and traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
In the summer of 1997, he decided to return to Bologna. Virtus gave him a three-year contract worth six million dollars and on his return, they set out to regain their scepters at home and conquer Europe. While Danilovic was away the only title they had won was the 1997 Italian Cup, while in the league they were eliminated in the semi-final round of the playoffs by Stefanel Milano (champions in 1996) and Fortitudo Bologna. When he stepped on the court wearing the jersey that now red Kinder Bologna it was as if not a day had passed.
Virtus finished the first round undefeated with 13 wins in as many games with Danilovic averaging 23.2 points and lost for the first time in the opening game of the second round to Varese 74-73. The conclusion of the regular season found them on top 23-3 (followed by Teamsystem -Fortitudo’s new sponsor- Bologna at 21-5 and Benetton Treviso at 17-9) and the gentleman with the number “5” on his back averaging 21.8 points per game. The second phase no longer existed but all playoff series were decided by three wins. It took four games to eliminate Roma, which was their first opponent. They won the first 82-63 with 24 points (4/7 threes) from Danilovic, since he was down to 11 they lost the second 78-74, with 21 points of his own (4/6 threes) they won the third 69-55 and in the fourth, they saw him score 47 points on 8/13 threes in the best performance of his career to lead them to an 84-77 victory.
In the first match against Varese for the semi-final, he was injured after just seven minutes of play and missed the rest of the series. His teammates managed to come through with a 3-1 win and in the finals, he returned to make a difference and give Virtus fans a moment that was forever etched in their memories. Despite his 17 points in the first game, Teamsystem broke his team’s home-court advantage by prevailing 81-80. His response was 30 points (4/7 3-pointers) and a victory for his team with 78-76. Fortitudo realized that if they could contain him, they weren’t going to lose to another player, so by holding him to 12 points, they made another win (76-69) at Virtus’ court. His teammates rose to the challenge and even though he only managed to score 6 points in the fourth game Kinder won again on the road 59-57.
The championship would be decided in the fifth and final game, and the battle that ensued became legendary, as did this incredible series. Teamsystem led 72-68, but with 18 seconds remaining, Danilovic (with 20 points) hit a three-pointer, drew a foul, made the free throw, and tied the game. After this turn of events, the match went into overtime, where Virtus emerged victorious 86-77, not only becoming European champions but also Italian champions for 1998. Just a while earlier, they had defeated AEK in the EuroLeague Final 4 final, a participation that had been denied to them during Danilovic’s first stint in Bologna by Real Madrid (1993), Olympiacos (1994), and Panathinaikos (1995). This marked the pinnacle of his career. However, a serious injury he suffered the following year allowed him to play in only 14 games during the regular season, and upon his return, he was not the same player.
Although he was still 29 years old, he had become heavy and had lost the explosiveness that distinguished him. Along with the desire to keep playing, as he seemed to be struggling just being on the court. Even so, in 1999 he helped Virtus reach the EuroLeague Final 4, where they were defeated by Zalgiris Kaunas in the final, and in 2000 he had a decent season. He lost only two of the 30 games (the teams became 16 again) in the regular season of the Italian Championship and averaging 19 points helped his team finish second behind Fortitudo (27-3), now called Paf, with a 21-9 record. In the playoffs, eventual champions Benetton Treviso eliminated them in the semifinals with a 3-0 win, and in Europe, it was again a final’s year. Due to winning the Italian Cup the previous season, Virtus was competing in the Saporta Cup (formerly know as the Cup Winners’ Cup) and had lost in the final to AEK.
Danilovic had already announced that he would retire at the end of the season. He couldn’t bear the pain in his legs anymore and withdrew from active play at the age of 30 as the best player ever to wear the Virtus jersey, which, thanks to his achievements, experienced its most glorious period.
