It was December of 2021, AS Monaco had started its first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season with a 5-9 record, and was on a five-game losing streak. The club parted ways with head coach Zvezdan Mitrovic, the man who guided them to the 7DAYS EuroCup crown a season earlier, and appointed Sasa Obradovic as his replacement on the bench.
Obradovic, who previously had a one-year stint with Monaco in the Covid 19-shortened 2019-20 campaign, met the team, held a practice, and 48 hours later was coaching them for the first time on the road against Zalgiris Kaunas.
"I remember that I had to pack my things and go straight to the game," Obradovic said, looking back to his start on Monaco's bench.
Fast forward a year and five months later and Obradovic is set to guide his troops in club's first-ever EuroLeague Final Four, at the same venue where he made his Monaco coaching debut – Zalgirio Arena.
"Ending up in this situation, I could not have even dreamt about it, honestly," Obradovic told EuroLeague.net during the session with the media after Thursday's practice and ahead of its Final Four semifinal clash against Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday.