Milan Gurović spent a decade and a half being paid to move quickly on a basketball court. On Sunday afternoon in Belgrade, that same instinct may have saved a stranger's life.

The 50-year-old former Barcelona and Serbia forward was driving home through New Belgrade when he saw a car swerve suddenly and come to a stop near a Lidl supermarket at the junction of Dušana Vukasovića and Vojvođanska streets, Serbian outlets reported. Within moments, the Audi was on fire with the driver still inside.

Gurović did not wait for help to arrive. He got out of his own vehicle, ran to the burning car and pulled the trapped man free, according to Telegraf and other Serbian media who spoke to witnesses and officials at the scene.

The driver, identified only as Milan J., 48, had become stuck when his seatbelt jammed as the flames spread. Sport5, citing the same reports, said only seconds separated the rescue from what could have become a fatal accident.

"He prevented a tremendous tragedy," Serbian media covering the incident said, describing how quickly the fire consumed the vehicle once Gurović had pulled the driver clear of it.

Firefighters reached the scene shortly afterwards with two vehicles and seven crew members, but by then the Audi was destroyed. The rescued driver was taken to Belgrade's Emergency Center, where doctors found he had suffered no burns or serious injuries, only smoke inhalation. Prosecutors were notified of the incident, as is standard procedure in Serbia for such accidents.

Gurović is remembered in Serbia as one of the most gifted forwards of his generation. Born in Novi Sad, he made his name at Peristeri in Greece before joining Barcelona in 1998, where he won the Spanish ACB league and the Korać Cup in his first season at the club.

He went on to play for AEK Athens, Málaga, Partizan and Crvena zvezda, among other clubs, finishing his career at Galatasaray in 2009. Across 49 EuroLeague appearances he averaged 12.6 points a game.

With the Yugoslav and Serbian national teams he won gold at EuroBasket 2001 and the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and later served as the first captain of Serbia's newly formed national side in 2007.

None of that, Sunday's events suggested, mattered as much to Gurović as being in the right place at the right moment — and having the nerve to act on it.