Bogdanovic got sentimental over his former coach.
The Los Angeles Clippers closed out their regular season on Sunday night with a 115-110 win over the Golden State Warriors at Intuit Dome, locking in a 42-40 record and the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
It was a game that mattered for seeding heading into the play-in tournament, but for Bogdan Bogdanovic, the night carried something much heavier than basketball.
A Personal Performance With Purpose
Bogdanovic came off the bench and put together one of his best outings of the year.
He finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting while drilling five three-pointers to go along with three rebounds and two blocks in just 21 minutes of action.
Three of those triples came back-to-back-to-back in the fourth quarter and helped the Clippers pull away from a Warriors team that had been hanging around.
For a player who has averaged just 7.7 points this season while dealing with an inconsistent role, it was a reminder of what he can still do when the moment finds him.
But after the game, Bogdanovic was not focused on the stat line.
He was thinking about Dusko Vujosevic, the legendary Serbian basketball coach who passed away on Saturday at the age of 77.
Bogdanovic had a close bond with Vujosevic dating back to his early days at KK Partizan, where Vujosevic first gave him a chance as a teenager.
"He gave me my first professional opportunity," Bogdanovic said after Sunday's win. "I came to Partizan when I was 18, and he was the head coach. He was definitely the one who gave me the first opportunity to show what I know and what I can do. I was definitely a part of the family during my time there. He was definitely a father figure."
Why Vujosevic Meant So Much
Vujosevic believed in an 18-year-old kid from Belgrade and gave him professional minutes at Partizan when nobody else would.
Under his watch, Bogdanovic grew into one of the best young players in European basketball and earned two EuroLeague Rising Star awards before making the jump to the NBA.
Without that early trust, the path to the league might have looked very different.
Vujosevic won 12 national championships with Partizan and led the club to two EuroLeague Final Four appearances across decades of Serbian basketball.
But Bogdanovic stressed his impact went beyond the court. "He cared about you as a person and developed you as a man," he added.
What Comes Next for the Clippers
With Kawhi Leonard sitting out Sunday due to a sprained left ankle, the Clippers needed guys like Bogdanovic to fill the void, and they delivered.
Darius Garland led the way with 25 points and seven assists, while Derrick Jones Jr. contributed 14 points and nine rebounds in a complete team effort.
Los Angeles will face the Warriors on Wednesday in the play-in tournament with a trip to the playoffs on the line.
Leonard is expected to return, and if Bogdanovic gets a chance and brings anything close to Sunday's energy off the bench, Los Angeles will feel good about their chances.