There’s little room for sentimentality in an 82-game season, particular during road games in the dead of January. But the Magic’s trip to the United Center on Monday allowed center Nikola Vucevic to catch up with connections that span more than a decade and 6,000 miles.
When a reserve big man checked in for the Bulls, chances are it was one of Vucevic’s old friends. He and Nikola Mirotic — two of the three NBA players from Montenegro — have been facing each other since grade school. When Vucevic made the move to California in 2007 to blaze a path to the pros, Taj Gibson was one of his first college teammates.
“In my opinion, he’s an All-Star,” Mirotic said of Vucevic. “He’s a young guy, a great guy. He’s the future.”
Vucevic’s 33 points and 11 rebounds in the Magic’s 121-114 victory made it hard to disagree with that.
Before leaving Montenegro, Vucevic was coached by his father, Borislav, who won the FIBA European Champions Cup in 1979 as a member of the famed KK Bosna squad. Nikola Vucevic and Mirotic would often be pitted against each other at either forward position, and both quickly developed a game that favored the long ball.
Mirotic left Montenegro in 2006, and Vucevic followed suit a year later. After just one year of American basketball at Stoneridge Prep in Southern California, Vucevic committed to USC, where he began watching film and running sets with Gibson.
“He was always very supportive of how I played my game,” Vucevic said. “There’s always a little bit of trash talk when we play now.”
Gibson remembered: “When he first came in, he was real thin and all he wanted to do was shoot 3s. His English was OK. He didn’t really go out much, though.
“Now his post game has developed, he doesn’t want to shoot 3s as much, and he’s gained a ton of weight in a good way. He’s wreaking havoc down low, and he talks with his head up now.”
That havoc has begun to garner national attention. Vucevic is averaging more than 18 points and 11 rebounds. He scored a career-high 34 against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
Mirotic said he admires how well his countryman has assimilated into the league and called him often at the beginning of the season for tips on the nuances of the league. In their first NBA meeting on Nov. 4, Vucevic posted 19 points and 13 rebounds. Mirotic had eight and six.
“He’s a really funny guy, but a quiet guy too,” Mirotic said. “He’s really professional. He’s a great friend. … He loves basketball. After practice, he’s thinking about basketball. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
He’s only 24, so Mirotic, Gibson and the rest of the Bulls will be seeing plenty more of Vucevic.
Twitter @Steven_Golds
