Nenad Krstic and Oklahoma City Thunder help out earthquake-hit Serbian town
Nenad Krstic and the Oklahoma City Thunder are doing everything they can to assist the residents of Kraljevo, Serbia, after residents there were hit by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake last
week. The earthquake, which struck Krstic’s hometown, left two people dead, 50 injured, and thousands of homes damaged.
“That’s my hometown,” said Krstic, who plays centre for the Thunder. “My parents live there, my grandparents, my friends. When I go in the summertime to Serbia, I spend some time over
there. I spend some time in Belgrade, but that’s my town.”
In the Thunder’s match-up with the Boston Celtics on Sunday 7 November, the organization made efforts to raise money for their player’s ravaged hometown, matching all donations made by
fans and auctioning off a game-worn Krstic jersey. All-in-all, about $10,000 will be donated to the International Red Cross to help the residents of Kraljevo.
“I’m really trying right now to help, and this is a great thing that the organization did—and the people—and that’s a good sign,” said Krstic. “It doesn’t matter how much money we can
send. We can let other people do the same thing.”
Krstic, who is entering his seventh year in the league, said every bit helps.
“I’m really optimistic because there’s a lot of good people in Serbia and in the world that can help and can rebuild,” he said. “It’s not a lot of money you’re talking about. Even before,
there was really a small town and nothing really expensive. Just build for the regular life.”
While Krstic reported that all of his family members survived the earthquake, he said they are afraid it might happen again. On Saturday 6 November, a less severe earthquake was recorded.
“Everybody’s asking themselves, ‘Why this now? In the whole world, why here?’ We don’t have the history of earthquakes, but it’s all right. We’re going to get through it.”
Krstic has career averages of 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds.
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