Bogdan Bogdanovic grateful as his parents witness Serbia’s run in Manila

Serbian star Bogdan Bogdanović goes straight to the gallery to greet his family and give his mother a hug and the trophy after Serbia advances to the Fiba World Cup Final. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Bogdan Bogdanovic made sure to share the biggest moment of his career so far with his family after leading Serbia back into the Fiba World Cup final after nine years.

After steering Serbia to a 95-86 win over Canada in a tremendous showing to finish with 23 points,  Bogdanovic rushed to the stands of Mall of Asia Arena to share greet his family and and share the player of the game trophy with his mother and father.

“Them and my friends, they believed since day one. And we were booking tickets, you know, we didn’t know who would come with us as a team and I’m so happy that they are here to witness this moment and to share it with me and this is unbelievable,” Bogdanovic told reporters. 

Bogdan Bogdanovic after sharing a moment with his family in Serbia’s 96-86 win over Canada to enter the #FIBAWC final. | @LanceAgcaoilINQ

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It was a fulfilling moment for the Atlanta Hawks guard, who led the collective effort of the Serbians–who played the tournament without its best player in Nikola Jokic–to oust the Canadians, who were led by several NBA standouts.

Now Serbia has a chance to surpass its 2014 silver medal finish when it lost to USA–which is disputing the other Final berth–and when he was still the team’s third top scorer.

“We have been working hard since day one. I’m just happy that we found the energy. It’s tough to dedicate two months to without seeing your family, your friends and drink and have fun and all that,” said Bogdanovic, who has emerged as the leader of Serbia this year.

“It’s really tough to be out of family so I’m just happy that everything comes together and success is coming out of it.”

Bogdan Bogdanovic hugs his mom in the crowd at Mall of Asia Arena after leading Serbia to the Fiba World Cup gold medal game.-MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

The 31-year-old Bogdanovic, though, knows the job isn’t done as the Serbians get a chance to rule the World Cup against the winner of the USA-Germany match.

“If we thought that we had the best game against Lithuania. Tonight was our best game so far in the tournament. We can only enjoy tonight. Tomorrow, we have to recover and watch the game tonight and get ready for whoever comes to the final,” Bogdanovic said.