Darko Milicic speaking about his days as an NBA player in an interview on Serbian TV

[LakerLegend]

Kevin Love caring enough to cry when he didn’t score 20 is why he’s an all star and milicic was a bum

[dhsilv2]

"- Can't understand American mentality and his players, who were focused on basketball 24/7. Says it was the only talking point for them."

that's pretty much why he failed.

He also added that players in NBA are either staring at their phones all of the time or talking ball, there is no room for any personal connections between players. And he was also surprised when going out on team dinner or lunch, players earning millions of dollars are splitting bills, each paying their own stuff, 10-15$ - so on multiple occasions he just picked up the check.

And yes, that kind of behavior is strange for us South-Europeans. People should be friendly, easy to reach, especially if you are part of the team. And it's quite a normal thing that you pick the bill one time, and next time someone else pays the meal. Normal people are doing this here, let alone rich folks. If I go out with friends, we never split the bill.

And about Kevin Love part. He said that the dude had tears in his eyes if he didn't get his 20 pts, even if the team won the game. At the end of the season Darko said some hard stuff to some Timberwolves players and the GM still wanted to bring him back next season if he would tell them that he was sorry. Darko was like, nah fck that!

Splitting a bill is weird in the US and it changes person to person, city to city, and there are 1000 other factors. Always best to not try and pay or to do it where nobody can "stop" you so to speak.

[dhsilv2]

Can I have some of what that host is smoking if he thinks the only thing separating Lebron and this stiff is a “chance”?

lol. There's a case that not getting a "chance" early on lead to his depression and drinking issues. Still...dude was INSANELY talented and seriously should have been an hall of fame player if he'd wanted it and had the mental stability. He didn't and he isn't. That guy still was so insanely talented...it's a real shame he never seemed to care.

[LukaMagic]

Kevin Love caring enough to cry when he didn’t score 20 is why he’s an all star and milicic was a bum

A lot of this interview was about cultural differences. He also repeated several times that now, looking back, it was his fault. He was young, stupid and angry from the beginning, because he didn't get a chance to play.
About that Kevin Love being an all star because he cared for his 20 pts - he said that he couldn't and still can't understand players on bad teams, loosing 60 games in a season and still celebrating 30 point performances. "What are you celebrating?! They value individual success more than team success in America."
He hated playing in Detroit, because he got in the game only if the team was losing or winning by 20 or more points. He felt empty playing in those meaningless minutes. And I get him, he grew up playing for wins, in crunch time, deciding games. And then all of a sudden he is entering a game just because there have to be 10 players on the court.

He made some really bad decisions in his life and he entered the NBA way too soon (17yo, from a war torn country, very different cultural background, language barrier), but on the other hand he was put in a really tough situation. I think his story is quite interesting and deep, it's easy to say he is a bust, and he is, but the background of it is really something.

[ShirleyTemple]

Kevin Love caring enough to cry when he didn’t score 20 is why he’s an all star and milicic was a bum

I think OP didn’t really translate well Darko’s point on this matter. Darko said that Love was in an awful mood in the lockeroom if he didn’t get his numbers even if the team won the game and Darko was irritated by that and even confronted him.

K Love obviously was nothing like that later in his career with Cleveland, but I don’t see why would Darko lie, he’s very much known as a downright honest guy.

[UcanUwill]

Can I have some of what that host is smoking if he thinks the only thing separating Lebron and this stiff is a “chance”?

lol. There's a case that not getting a "chance" early on lead to his depression and drinking issues. Still...dude was INSANELY talented and seriously should have been an hall of fame player if he'd wanted it and had the mental stability. He didn't and he isn't. That guy still was so insanely talented...it's a real shame he never seemed to care.

His touch around the rim was terrible, I dont get wheres that talent everybodys talking about when talking Darko. He had psysical tools but no skills, basically Bogut with much lower bb IQ

[Sgt Major]

"- Can't understand American mentality and his players, who were focused on basketball 24/7. Says it was the only talking point for them."

that's pretty much why he failed.

He also added that players in NBA are either staring at their phones all of the time or talking ball, there is no room for any personal connections between players. And he was also surprised when going out on team dinner or lunch, players earning millions of dollars are splitting bills, each paying their own stuff, 10-15$ - so on multiple occasions he just picked up the check.

And yes, that kind of behavior is strange for us South-Europeans. People should be friendly, easy to reach, especially if you are part of the team. And it's quite a normal thing that you pick the bill one time, and next time someone else pays the meal. Normal people are doing this here, let alone rich folks. If I go out with friends, we never split the bill.

And about Kevin Love part. He said that the dude had tears in his eyes if he didn't get his 20 pts, even if the team won the game. At the end of the season Darko said some hard stuff to some Timberwolves players and the GM still wanted to bring him back next season if he would tell them that he was sorry. Darko was like, nah fck that!

Not strange at all. Me, my friends and co-workers split the bill 98% of the time. If I'm with those same people and we all suddenly became stupidly rich, we'd still split the bill. Habits die hard.

That's more of a cultural thing, I believe. In Serbia, people often feel insulted if someone doesn't let them to pay the full bill. In the end, everyone's on the same level, as in I'll pay today, you'll do it tomorrow, the other guy the next day etc etc.

[afarmenian]

Can I have some of what that host is smoking if he thinks the only thing separating Lebron and this stiff is a “chance”?

lol. There's a case that not getting a "chance" early on lead to his depression and drinking issues. Still...dude was INSANELY talented and seriously should have been an hall of fame player if he'd wanted it and had the mental stability. He didn't and he isn't. That guy still was so insanely talented...it's a real shame he never seemed to care.

His touch around the rim was terrible, I dont get wheres that talent everybodys talking about when talking Darko. He had psysical tools but no skills, basically Bogut with much lower bb IQ

Completely agree. He was big semi coordinated with decent athleticism at a young age but people talk about him like he had Shaq's physical profile.

[dhsilv2]

Can I have some of what that host is smoking if he thinks the only thing separating Lebron and this stiff is a “chance”?

lol. There's a case that not getting a "chance" early on lead to his depression and drinking issues. Still...dude was INSANELY talented and seriously should have been an hall of fame player if he'd wanted it and had the mental stability. He didn't and he isn't. That guy still was so insanely talented...it's a real shame he never seemed to care.

His touch around the rim was terrible, I dont get wheres that talent everybodys talking about when talking Darko. He had psysical tools but no skills, basically Bogut with much lower bb IQ

Bogut if he could have played more minutes and stayed healthy was one of the best defensive players in the league. How is being bogut a bad thing? That's a really weird way to dog a guy by comparing him to a DPOY level defender with an injury history.

But completely disagree with him not having a touch but more to that he had good handles for his size, he had a shot that he needed to work on but was workable, and he actually had a decent touch. Given the guy clearly just didn't put ANY work in.... I seriously don't think people realize how little effort he put in while still being a clear legit nba player. I'm not even sure by the end if he was even sober in those games...he was upset teams kept paying him to play.

[Dupp]

Kevin Love caring enough to cry when he didn’t score 20 is why he’s an all star and milicic was a bum

A lot of this interview was about cultural differences. He also repeated several times that now, looking back, it was his fault. He was young, stupid and angry from the beginning, because he didn't get a chance to play.
About that Kevin Love being an all star because he cared for his 20 pts - he said that he couldn't and still can't understand players on bad teams, loosing 60 games in a season and still celebrating 30 point performances. "What are you celebrating?! They value individual success more than team success in America."
He hated playing in Detroit, because he got in the game only if the team was losing or winning by 20 or more points. He felt empty playing in those meaningless minutes. And I get him, he grew up playing for wins, in crunch time, deciding games. And then all of a sudden he is entering a game just because there have to be 10 players on the court.

He made some really bad decisions in his life and he entered the NBA way too soon (17yo, from a warn torn country, very different cultural background, language barrier), but on the other hand he was put in a really tough situation. I think his story is quite interesting and deep, it's easy to say he is a bust, and he is, but the background of it is really something.

Angry? No way ..

Watch on YouTube

I do agree with everything you said though

[ShazamDaShiznt]

only thing that separates Darko and Lebron is a chance....

Watch on YouTube

the greatest of the greatest, while other lame nba players talking about basketball 24/7 real legends drink beer with no hands, basketball is just a side job for little cash

[ShirleyTemple]

To me, the funniest part was when he was talking about his Detroit days and told the story about him coming to the morning practice straight out of the club. When Igor Kokoškov (Pistons’ assistant coach at the time) noticed he was drunk, he said to Darko: “Don’t go close to Larry (Brown), you smell of alcohol.”

Another one was when he attended DJ Tiesto’s concert and tomorrow at practice coaches freaked out because he wasn’t doing any of the things they told him to do. He couldn’t hear them.

[kodo]

"- Can't understand American mentality and his players, who were focused on basketball 24/7. Says it was the only talking point for them."

that's pretty much why he failed.

Agreed.

Both he & Eddy Curry were immensely physically gifted (Curry was an all-state gymnast in high school at his size).

Neither actually liked basketball...which kinda killed their careers a bit. Or maybe more accurately just saw it as a job to get paid, it didn't motivate them.

[LukaMagic]

Neither actually liked basketball...which kinda killed their careers a bit.

Darko loves basketball, he still plays it once per week, follows Euroleague, some nba, his son is playing ball..

[Sgt Major]

To me, the funniest part was when he was talking about his Detroit days and told the story about him coming to the morning practice straight out of the club. When Igor Kokoškov (Pistons’ assistant coach at the time) noticed he was drunk, he said to Darko: “Don’t go close to Larry (Brown), you smell of alcohol.”

Another one was when he attended DJ Tiesto’s concert and tomorrow at practice coaches freaked out because he wasn’t doing any of the things they told him to do. He couldn’t hear them.

Those are great, but the best one was when he told the coach that he had forgotten English a year ago, and therefore cannot understand a single word he had been told to.

[ShazamDaShiznt]

darko probably liked basketball, its just larry brown makes you hate basketball because he's that terrible of a coach really

[PlatinumState]

I feel if he went 3-4 years later when he was 22-23 and fell to the right organization he could've had a good career.
He was just a talented 18 year old who liked spending money and drinking more than basketball is all.
Sure as hell didnt help that his first nba coach was Larry Brown and Detroit was a powerhouse so he couldnt get any minutes. They had Okur, Ben and Rasheed Wallace. I still dont get why Detroit drafted Darko and not Wade or Carmelo.

[og15]

Advocating for either Melo (scoring) or Bosh (fit) is crazy. If you're going to go full-hindsight revisionist history, you take the best player available, Dwyane Wade. Then you make it work.

Agree however they had no PF, a good team and knew how raw Darko was.

I agree about Larry Brown, but Wade would have been 1000% harder to ruin than Darko. Darko just didn't care enough. Wade doesn't have that problem.

I can easily imagine Larry having trouble with young Melo, too. Larry is a genius, but he's damn hard to deal with at times.

Larry wouldn't have ruined any of the other guys, he would have just made it unnecessarily difficult for them to get going early on. Darko wouldn't have been any better had he started his career somewhere else. He would have played more minutes and had better early numbers, but he was 20 years old and in his third season by the time he left Detroit, there was PLENTY of time to still turn it around and become a better player. He clearly had the timing and shot blocking ability, and he had some skills, but the work ethic just wasn't there, and he couldn't put all together. Definitely wasn't going to be a superstar if he just had opportunity if he couldn't even become a good starter after escaping Larry Brown at 20 years old and going to a situation where they wanted him to succeed and gave him minutes.

Darko might have been better though if he didn't get so much money so early while having "independence". Maybe if he was drafted older and slightly wiser, things change, but we've seen guys where that's not really the case, and they don't get wiser until it's too late, so maybe not.

Neither actually liked basketball...which kinda killed their careers a bit.

Darko loves basketball, he still plays it once per week, follows Euroleague, some nba, his son is playing ball..

I don't doubt he likes basketball, but if you're going to be great, you generally have to more than just like basketball.

[Yoshun]

Basketball was never Darko's priority, it was obviously never that important. It's a huge part of why he didn't make it.

[Richard Miller]