However, for one thing, this start of the season will be different from the previous ten. In the locker room, at the first meeting, the place for the eighth shirt will certainly be empty …
The official wording is that Marko Derasimovic and Duna Asphalt-DTKH Kecskemét will not renew the player’s contract, which expires on June 30.
But the relationship between the club and the player was much more than a contract, and not based on the sentences described. Instead, we can count on honesty, trust, mutual loyalty, professionalism, and a hard-to-describe voice, often used without content in sports, to get anything done.
Marco Derasimovic has been Kecskemét’s dominant basketball player for 10 seasons, save for a half-year turn from Romania, and has never played a league game at any other club. He is a basketball player who spent most of his time as a foreigner in the same sports organization as the leading Hungarian Championship as a whole. As a player from Kecskemét, his first league game was against Nyíregyháza on 7 January 2012, and he scored 21 points as a lead. He played a total of 297 championship matches in the Kecskemét jersey, and was a member of the silver medalist KTE-Danube Asphalt, which achieved the best championship result in Kecskemét history in 2015. Summarizing in numbers language, he averaged nine years for Group A (in 2012-13 the team was In NB IB), this is what the most important dataset looks like: He spent 31 minutes on the field, throwing 16.3 points, and hit 20.56 VAL. Nine seasons, every game!
Marko Derasimovic became a key member in the history of basketball in Kecskemét, and became an icon of the club, but not only because of the statistics. His personality, his humble, calm, emotional style, the captivating will to win made him a fan favorite, and a role model for youth. Many told him he was one of the most underrated players in the Hungarian League, the only explanation being that he never had a star. He had no vocal data, no relationships, no titles, just a focus on what he really understood: basketball.
The main question is: How is David? How are the rest of the family?
“Fortunately, I can say that David is fine.” She smiles, runs, plays ball, spends the whole day in the air with other children. The same is true for every member of my family, everyone is fine, and our lives are back to normal.
I think they also have a big role in making it easier to think about the events of recent months.
“Yes, if it weren’t for the family, everything would have been much more difficult.” When David’s illness was revealed, we immediately knew they were behind us, and we could count on them for everything. My brothers also have two kids, they understood what we were going through. My parents are retired, devoting all their time to their four grandchildren, fortunately they can now enjoy every minute of it.
There were so many who didn’t know exactly how much trouble their little one was in, they just heard about it and saw a game or two in January and February 2020 when he wasn’t with the team. When he entered the field, on the other hand, one could see the same dedicated and successful Marco, so adored by the Kecskemét audience. Moreover, according to statistics, the 2019-20 season was the second best year of his career in Hungary. Now, however, it can be said that he has ended his career in Kecskemét, Hungary, because he wants to be with his family. How did you cope with this situation in the dual role of father and professional athlete?
“We haven’t talked to almost anyone about it for a long time, we just talked about David’s recovery.” Now we believe our story can help parents in a situation like ours. It can help us accept that it brings us new hope every day. On January 8, 2020, my wife Sonya noticed something strange in David’s stomach. On quick checks, we learned that David was unfortunately attacked by a serious illness, they said, Wilms’ tumor, and kidney cancer. In the first moments, of course, we broke down, it seemed unbelievable that all this was happening to our little boy who had no obvious symptoms and did not even understand why we were crying. We had to pull ourselves together really quickly and just think about how we can help David recover more quickly. We decided to go home, in search of a doctor to deal with such cases, with which the struggle for David’s life began almost immediately. We prepared our son for weeks for a three-and-a-half hour surgery, for a total of 24 chemotherapy treatments. We read a lot about the disease, the good and the bad, but we believed all the way through our doctor, who said at the first meeting that he was almost certain David would make a full recovery. The streak of treatment ended last fall, and I have to get regular checkups, but I can now say David is doing very well.
Meanwhile, the matches in Kiskemet went…
“In no way did I want to leave the team, so my wife and I decided to come back when I didn’t need much. There were times when I just got to the match, and there were times I was here for training. I felt how understanding my teammates, the coach and Gabor Foray were. And the whole club. So I came as fast as I could. I remember driving nine hundred miles every week because I had to be with my family, but I didn’t want to leave the team alone. I probably looked on the field as before, though from the moment I found out I was ill. David, nothing was the same in my soul.In March, I felt tired body and soul… Thank God David is fine and that’s all that matters today.
Is the story true that when David was born, he stayed with the team despite the club’s permission and only traveled home after the game?
– Yeah. There was no possibility of my father’s birth and we discussed with my wife that I would only need me after the birth anyway, so we played the game, congratulations from my teammates and everyone, and then I went home.
Tough wife to his wife!
– Sonia is incredible. He is the foundation of my family, the most important person. He’s really powerful, he’s a mainstay for all of us, but he can be very emotional and moody. It is no coincidence that he has been a Latin dancer for eight years.
The image of Marko Derasimovic will live on in Hungary, where there was a player who won matches, who was mentioned by experts as one of the best players of the Hungarian League due to his knowledge, training and intelligence in play. The coach could count on him at any time, and who was ultimately loyal to his club. But if we look at only the first half of the idea now, the question arises: why did he stay? With his abilities and experience, he would hold out in a stronger and richer league than the Hungarian League. Must have offers, so why not give them a try? Or, to put it this way: What made you live in Kiskemet for ten seasons?
– it is easy. At Kecskemét, right from the start, I got what I was looking for earlier in my career. There was a coach who definitely believed in me, this is an essential issue for any athlete. Every year I have played an important role in the team, I can say, becoming a key person in our community. And last but not least there is the love of the fans, which is sometimes touching, sometimes inspiring, and without them it is very difficult to fight for a club or team. A lot of people probably wouldn’t believe it, but to me, those were so important, they kept me here. At the end of each season, or several times during the season, we extended my contract, and of course I received offers from somewhere else at first, but later they were also missed…
How did you get to Kecskemét?
– Call Stoyan Ivkovic.
What does Captain Fed today mean in your career? What is your role in your life?
“What can I say about the man who brought me to Kissmite and we spent ten years together!” A coach who deals with every moment in the team and every corner of the field. It’s amazing how much you’ve improved with me during this time! I remember drawing a procedure for me in my first year where I had no idea if I could do well, but he saw in me the opportunity. Then we played that number every season. We made many tough decisions together and he was always supportive of me, whether it was in sports or privacy. I am so grateful to him for all I have learned!
Father and son relationship
“The first day he walked into the locker room, he seemed to be a really good guy, and that hasn’t changed in ten years,” Stoyan Evkovic said of Marko Derasimovic. It also helped my career a lot. With his modesty, professionalism and belief in victory, one can always count on him, he is an excellent man, a true role model. In other words, the father-son relationship became our relationship. We have developed a close relationship, and of course we will continue to keep in touch with each other.
Do you remember your first game in Kiskemet?
“I remember my first match very well, we took away and unfortunately lost. Fortunately, I have better memories than that. What jumps out first is the tournament final against Zolnock, we played in our hall in front of a packed house, and although we went out, That the fans kept us alive for so long.This was probably my best match in KTE.
He played with many players over ten seasons. Is there anyone who stands out from the rest for some reason?
I have met many players who remain my friends with whom I feel good on and off the field. Kemal Karahodzic and Christian Wittmann are also special to me because I spent most of their time with them on the KSKMET team. I would also like to mention David Voevoda, whom I had great respect as an opponent. When he played with extra motivation, it was impossible to defend well.
Lots of time, ten seasons brought many changes in Hungarian basketball. The number of armies has changed, now there is a U23 rule, foreign judgment on Hungarian basketball is improving based on the results. In your opinion, is our sport stronger or weaker now than it was ten years ago?
– I can clearly say in this question that Hungarian basketball has developed a lot, and is, in my opinion, the best in the region. The conditions, the new halls, the organization, the operation of the clubs, the international performances, all were raised to a high standard. I think the U23 rule is also great because it helps young Hungarian players get a serious chance to play as quickly as possible.
He has now moved to his home in Kragujevac. What is your plan now? Are you still playing at home? Or is his life going in another direction?
“I plan to play here in Kragujevac for a year or two, but of course I am thinking of later times.” In the summer, I start school, go to basketball coaching school.
If you remember Kecskemét, what do you think? What does this city mean to you? What did you get at Kecskemét that affects your life?
– First of all, my children were born during the time I played basketball in Kiskemet. Hana started school here, she was the first at Sándor Petőfi Primary School, she is happy to remember the class, and we are very grateful to the teachers for their great patience and care during her short stay at the school. I spent ten beautiful years in Kecskemét, met so many wonderful people. I can work with excellent coaches, most of whom spent time with Gábor Forray at the club, we understood each other very well, but the same can be said for Kornél Váradi. I will always be happy to come back to Kecskemét and there will always be a part of my heart. When I think about this period, I feel happy and satisfied knowing for myself that I did the best I could in these 10 years. And my soul is also calm, because perhaps I can return the favor for the many good things I’ve got in Kiskmet.
author: KTE Basketball Club
