Imagine what Milicic could have done with a different mindset
https://www.fiba.basketball/news/imagine-what-milicic-could-have-done-with-a-different-mindset
VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - On a warm summer night, 17 years ago at Madison Square Garden in New York, NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped up to the lectern and announced to a worldwide audience: "With the second pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons select Darko Milicic from Serbia and Montenegro."
That, everyone, was the highlight of Milicic's career. Having just turned 18, the world was at his feet. The young giant that had bleached hair was set to be the latest player from the Balkans to take the NBA by storm and for the fans back home, well, they had a young center that was going to help their national team for years to come.
That, of course, didn't happen, with Milicic averaging 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in his decade in the NBA. With Serbia and Montenegro (2005 and 2006) and then Serbia (2007), he never got close to the podium, although he did put up good numbers at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006 in Japan and at FIBA EuroBasket 2007.
C'est la vie.
As it is, Pistons supporters and probably most fans consider Milicic one of the worst lottery picks in NBA history. When a team selects second, it's looking for and expecting a cornerstone of the franchise. He was a player that could have made it big in America and also back home in Serbia with the national team.
How would basketball, both in the NBA and internationally, turned out differently had Milicic, who has admitted he didn't train as hard as he should have, taken a LeBron James-like approach to working out and practice? James was drafted first overall by Cleveland, ahead of Milicic, and today, many believe him to be the best player in the game, even at 35.
Or what if Milicic had stayed in Europe to get more playing time and not gone to the Pistons as a teen, or if instead of riding the bench in his time with Detroit, he'd agreed to spend time in the G League (it was then known as the National Basketball Development League) or even requested to go there just to get minutes?
Imagine how things might have turned out differently.
Milicic played against Spain at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006 in Saitama, Japan
Let's say there is an alternate basketball universe in which Milicic took a different approach and more than fulfilled his potential. That Milicic worked at his craft like there was no tomorrow.
Think of how that big, strong and skilled center made his NBA clubs, and Serbia teams, better, including as recently as three years ago when the team lost to Slovenia in the EuroBasket Final in Istanbul.
Imagine, had Milicic developed into a star center and played for his country, Serbia might have captured their first EuroBasket crown in 2017. He could have patrolled the paint on defense, swatting basketballs as if they were flies.
He could have posted up Gasper Vidmar and gotten the Slovenia big man in foul trouble. Milicic could have been a hero.
In reality, Serbia had giant pivot Boban Marjanovic, who lasted just 15 minutes because of foul trouble and contributed only six points, three rebounds and a block. Ognjen Kuzmic and Vladimir Stimac, also in the team, were ineffective, while Nikola Jokic, who'd been solid at the Rio Olympics the year before, did not play in that EuroBasket.
Slovenia, with Goran Dragic going on daring drives to the basket, prevailed in the end, 93-85.
Compare Milicic to Pau Gasol, who was drafted two years before him yet still, even at the age of 40, has not retired, or even Marc Gasol, who once was overweight and was only the 48th overall selection in the 2007 draft by the Lakers (Milicic was a teammate of Pau in Memphis one season and with Marc in another).
Spain's Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro and Milicic were teammates in the 2007-08 season
Pau Gasol applied himself from the beginning, first in Spain with Barcelona until he made the jump to Memphis at the age of 21, and he's had a legendary career for his clubs and country. Marc Gasol has worked so hard on his body that he's muscular yet trim, the true definition of a player that ground away on his fitness to reach his peak. He's a two-time FIBA Basketball World Cup winner, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star, and he remains one of the best centers in the league with Toronto.
Both Pau Gasol and Milicic are 2.13m in in height and have wingspans of 2.26m. Maybe Milicic didn't have post moves that were fluid when he was drafted as Pau Gasol, or the passing skills and soft touch of Marc Gasol, yet by playing games and working tirelessly on his craft, the possibilities were there.
With hard work and dedication, he could have ended up blocking shots like Rudy Gobert, come up with a reliable mid-range jumper or hook shot, or learned how to rebound like Dwight Howard.
Again, by his own admission, Milicic did not work hard enough when he went to the NBA.
He was and always will be a member of the 2003 NBA Draft, one that is among the most memorable because of what happened with the first five picks.
Cleveland snapped up LeBron James with the first overall pick and after Milicic went to Detroit, Denver took Carmelo Anthony, Toronto chose Chris Bosh and Miami selected Dwyane Wade. But everyone will also remember that top five as four studs and a dud.
Why write this now? It's just a reminder that golden opportunities come along in life and really, it's up to the individual to make the most of them.
Jeff Taylor
FIBA
FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.
FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.
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Jeff Taylor
Jeff Taylor, a North Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate, has been a journalist since 1990. He started covering international basketball after moving to Europe in 1996. Jeff provides insight and opinion every week about players and teams on the old continent that are causing a buzz.
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