Bogdan Bogdanovic Comments On His Viral Carmelo Anthony Celebration: "Nothing but Respect and Competitiveness"

Bogdanovic did Anthony's Iconic celebration in the Olympic Semifinal game yesterday

Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; Serbia shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (7) controls the ball during the first half against the United States in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

While Team USA is going for the gold today against France, you can argue that the real gold medal game came in the semifinals matchup with Serbia. Team USA was pushed to the brink against Serbia, but used a phenomenal 4th quarter to overcome their defecit and win.

Serbia was able to bounce back quickly and win the bronze medal today by beating Germany.

One of the most talked about moments during the game on Thursday was after Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a big three pointer, he did the iconic Carmelo Anthony shot celebration, with Anthony in attendance. It drew a lot of attendance around the sports world and Bogdanovic spoke about the moment in today's press conference after Serbia beat Germany:

"I enjoy the game. I like to compete and I’ll always compete with fire”, he opened.

“And I’ve been doing that for a long time. I know somebody is thinking it’s provocation or something, but that’s media. For me, it’s just enjoyment, competitiveness on the court, and respect for him. To have him over there as a legend, nothing else but respect and competitiveness”, the Serbian guard also said.

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Bogdanovic was the 5th leading scorer in the entire Summer Olympics, averaging 18.8 PPG, shooting 47% from the field and 43% from three. He ended up tied with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic for 5th.

Our own Rohan Raman had this to say about Bogdanovic and his performances this summer:

"In terms of what this means for the 2024-25 Hawks, it should only serve to highlight that Bogdanovic is one of the best bench players in the NBA. His ability to provide instant offense and stretch defenses is incredibly valuable. Playing off of Trae Young and an improved Jalen Johnson will only lead to more opportunities for him - he is incredible at capitalizing on the space he is given. It will be interesting to see if he can reach a new level this year in Atlanta with another healthy season and more spacing. Young, Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher all project to be legitimate threats from three-point range. Putting Bogdanovic in that lineup could be devestating for defenses to handle.

I also think it will be interesting to see how the Hawks handle the minutes allocation between him and Dyson Daniels. Daniels has been the better defender throughout the past two years, but I thought Bogdanovic looked fairly solid on defense against Australia and the USA. If Bogdanovic can be a positive on defense, then it will be very hard to place Daniels in the starting lineup over him.

Although the Hawks no longer have any players remaining in the Olympics, it was overall a great tournament for Atlanta. Daniels and Bogdanovic both played well for their respective teams and both look to have important roles for the 2024-25 Hawks."