Nikola Mirotic goes on podcast, talks about Jimmy, Rondo, NBA pressure, trash talking

[Ito]

Showing up at the gym 3 am not necessary a good thing.. krazy? Sure.. but it doesn’t seem like he’s able to keep a healthy working out routine consistently if you ask me

[iserp]

"In the NBA, you lose one game, 'Don't worry.' 2nd game, 'We're good.' 3rd game you lose: 'A long season.' 4th game, 'OK, stick together, guys.' So it can be like this for 10 [consecutive] games.

Uhhh this is only true if you play for blah teams, which was most of Mirotic's career.

Yes, but that does not happen even for blah teams in Europe, relegation is a thing and all matches have to be taken seriously.

[johanliebert]

speed and physicality were what he first noticed huh. The two things the nba got rid of to usher in euro players.

[elchengue20]

Showing up at the gym 3 am not necessary a good thing.. krazy? Sure.. but it doesn’t seem like he’s able to keep a healthy working out routine consistently if you ask me

I understand your point, but Kobe did the same thing and seems it worked just fine for both guys.

Kobe explained it allowed him to have time to work extra shifts. Then those extra shifts accumulate over time and you start to really get an advantage over your competition.

[1993Playoffs]

Forgot about this guy lol. I remember hearing Bobby Portis punched him

[lambchop]

speed and physicality were what he first noticed huh. The two things the nba got rid of to usher in euro players.

The nba never got rid of speed and by physicality he probably just means the fact that everyone is way more physically gifted than in Europe.

It's at a point since the mid 2010s where lumbering bigs struggle to stay on the court because of how they'll get exposed. Even before the league wide 3 point explosion, everyone saw the likes of Roy Hibbert become unplayable because they couldn't keep up with the speed.

In the nba even the backup point guard will block your dunk attempt, if it's weak. Players move quickly, are more twitchy and have more space to utilise their athleticism.

[reddyplayerone]

"In the NBA, you lose one game, 'Don't worry.' 2nd game, 'We're good.' 3rd game you lose: 'A long season.' 4th game, 'OK, stick together, guys.' So it can be like this for 10 [consecutive] games.

Uhhh this is only true if you play for blah teams, which was most of Mirotic's career.

Yes, but that does not happen even for blah teams in Europe, relegation is a thing and all matches have to be taken seriously.

Do they do this in basketball leagues in Europe too? I thought it was just a soccer thing

[Flopper]

Rondo almost worked that same 8 seed playoff magic with the Bulls the year before. Same story where he was trash during the regular season and then just completely took over in the playoffs, in terms of play and leadership.

I always liked Mirotic's game, well rounded offensively and enough length and lateral quickness to be a lot more effective defensively than people expected. He should've won RoY instead of Wiggins back in 2015, but was probably hurt by his age (23) and the last remnants of the euro-soft stigma that was still prevalent around that time.

[dhsilv2]

He’d go to the practice facility at 3:00 a.m. with his personal coach. He’d lift weights at 3:00 a.m., then do basketball drills at 5:00 a.m. There were days when Jimmy would show up at practice, take off his shoes, and just sit on the side watching us practice.

How in the HECK do you get up a 3 AM and also peak athletically for a game at 8 pm? These wild getting up in the legit middle of the night stories I hear, I'm not questioning them all, but they don't make any bit of sense. He might very well not get home after a game until midnight and you're telling me he sleeps 3 hours and works out?

[dhsilv2]

Showing up at the gym 3 am not necessary a good thing.. krazy? Sure.. but it doesn’t seem like he’s able to keep a healthy working out routine consistently if you ask me

Yeah because that means he isn't sleeping or he doesn't have normal sleep rhythms at all. It just can't be healthy. He doesn't have a 9-5 where, while insane...you could do that.

[Statlanta]

Rondo almost worked that same 8 seed playoff magic with the Bulls the year before. Same story where he was trash during the regular season and then just completely took over in the playoffs, in terms of play and leadership.

I always liked Mirotic's game, well rounded offensively and enough length and lateral quickness to be a lot more effective defensively than people expected. He should've won RoY instead of Wiggins back in 2015, but was probably hurt by his age (23) and the last remnants of the euro-soft stigma that was still prevalent around that time.

It's no stigma when he literally exemplified it with his scruffle with Bobby Portis.

[Papi_swav]

Nice, this was a great read OP and I enjoyed his perspective. Mirotic was a solid player at the 4 and a good shooter right before all the big men started shooting 3s. I remember that Pelicans team with jrue, Rondo and AD, I was rooting for them like crazy because they was the underdogs and they ended up being a tough matchup for most teams and played hard. Then they got Cousins, man what could of been. But I'm glad Mirotic is doing well.

[Capn'O]

If I have to pick, I would pick European basketball

Is Mirotic the poster mirotic

[Tor_Raps]

Still miffed he **** the bed so hard in 2019 playoffs he fled the league

We thank him for his disservice lol

[Thaddy]

NBA players lack the maturity, pride, principles, and competitiveness to play hard every night.

Hard to expect boys to be men when we coddle them like babies.

They also make way, way too much money. Nobody should be paid $300 million to put a ball in a hoop.

So then who pockets the money? The owners? I don't think so.

The players deserve every penny and more of what they earn. They're the reason we tune in.

I work at a tech company. The owner makes millions sitting around giving "pump up" speeches, does no work, and isn't an engineer. The actual engineers like me should be making more considering the pressure and technical work we do. The NBA has a great standard that leans towards the workers.

[DelAbbot]

Still miffed he **** the bed so hard in 2019 playoffs he fled the league

We thank him for his disservice lol

It was not Mirotic's fault. It was Budenholzer's fault. He put Malcolm Brogdon in the starting lineup and pushed Mirotic to the bench. Mirotic worked much better to space the court for Giannis and Bledsoe, but wasn't effective off the bench - when Mirotic left the NBA I thought it was because he was upset at Budenholzer for that stupid decision and disrespect.

[Flopper]

Rondo almost worked that same 8 seed playoff magic with the Bulls the year before. Same story where he was trash during the regular season and then just completely took over in the playoffs, in terms of play and leadership.

I always liked Mirotic's game, well rounded offensively and enough length and lateral quickness to be a lot more effective defensively than people expected. He should've won RoY instead of Wiggins back in 2015, but was probably hurt by his age (23) and the last remnants of the euro-soft stigma that was still prevalent around that time.

It's no stigma when he literally exemplified it with his scruffle with Bobby Portis.

Okay.

[Ruma85]

He’d go to the practice facility at 3:00 a.m. with his personal coach. He’d lift weights at 3:00 a.m., then do basketball drills at 5:00 a.m. There were days when Jimmy would show up at practice, take off his shoes, and just sit on the side watching us practice.

How in the HECK do you get up a 3 AM and also peak athletically for a game at 8 pm? These wild getting up in the legit middle of the night stories I hear, I'm not questioning them all, but they don't make any bit of sense. He might very well not get home after a game until midnight and you're telling me he sleeps 3 hours and works out?

A lot people do this even if they are not professional athletes, people take power naps during the day, to help alleviate sleepness, it might not be healthy long term. The sense is a lot of the guys who do this, are there ones who stay off social media as much as humanly possible.

[TheGeneral99]

I love Jimmy but why did he need to get at 3:00am to do his workouts if he's not going to even participate in practice? lol.

[ITYSL]

Some cool stories in there. Thanks!