The Serb won the UAE qualifiers for the one-on-one basketball tournament before travelling to San Francisco this week to test himself against the best players in the world at Alcatraz.
At just six foot two inches tall, Bajric was comfortably the smallest player in the tournament but as a former professional player in the European leagues, he was one of the most qualified.
After starting the tournament with virtually no attention, the Serb became the most popular player on the Rock, eventually reaching the semi-finals before losing in heartbreaking circumstances to Spaniard Sergio De La Fuentes.
"The semi-final was the most unfortunate games of my life and one I will never forget," the 30-year-old told Sport360°.
"Basically, the other guy was from Spain and six-foot-nine-inches, and for some reason the referee decided to call lots of crazy fouls on me. I found myself with four fouls with just 13 seconds of the game left to play and I was up 8-7.
"I was tasting the final then with a few seconds left he took a shot, I boxed out for the rebound and we both caught the ball. I ripped it out of his hands and he fell down and I was called for the foul. That was my fifth foul and I was disqualified even though I was up.
"If he had let me go, I would have won because my opponent would have had to keep fouling me.
"My heart skipped a few beats and the fans were really protesting and it took the final a while to start because of it.
"In the final, people were walking out because after a minute the other guy [Tarrone Williams] was beating him so badly."
Third place or not, Bajric admits to struggling to overcome the hurt that came from such a difficult defeat. The Serb has vowed to come back stronger next year and go the whole way. For the moment, he is just proud to have gone to America and proved people wrong.
"Proving people wrong is my favourite thing in life and it's why I play sports," said the former pro. "In basketball especially, because it is a big man's game so to be small and go out and show people that you are better than them, it's the greatest feeling ever.
"After some of these guys lost they couldn't believe they lost to me, it was such an unbelievable feeling.
"The fans were really on my side and they were following me more and more. It looked like I had to work twice as hard as everyone else.
"The competition was extremely tough, it was by far the biggest test of my life - and I played professionally for six years. It was the fiercest competition of my life so far.
"I can't get over it. I just had my first game since and honestly it's really weird. It's like being injured and coming back, getting flashbacks and things like that. I'm just remembering how I missed that shot, it's a really hard time for me right now.
"It's going to take a while to get over. I'll stay positive and get stronger, I'm really sure I can win next year."
Source: Sport360
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