Not the messenger I expected for the anti-Jokic take.

[Kblaze8855]

https://www.hostpic.org/images/2403310316200305.jpeg

[BarberSchool]

Kukoc needs money ? He can’t genuinely believe that.

[Kblaze8855]

I saw Discussed but in a different language. If I find the full interview, I’ll post it. I originally assumed it might be that parody site but it isn’t.

[RRR3]

Bitter old boomer thinks things were better in his day despite massive evidence to the contrary part 792933837

[tontoz]

I would guess there is a problem in translation. Vlade made one All Star game in his career and Dino played only 4 years in the NBA.

[Kblaze8855]

I doubt he’s talking strictly NBA. European players put a lot of weight on national team performance, and both of those guys were probably on Yugoslavia with him when they were winning gold in the World Cup and I think maybe being silver in the Olympics. I know they were silver but I’m not sure Dino was on the team in 92.

All those countries started breaking up when the Soviet Union did of course so I’m not sure where he landed. I know he was one of the top 50 all-time internationals when fiba put that list out in the early 90s. So was Vlade. Toni is probably talking basketball in general not the nba. But like you said we probably need a good translation.

[90sgoat]

Yeah good point, Kukoc is probably dissapointed, rightfully in how Jokic has played with Serbia, though the problem seems more to be with the coach not having the team play to his ability. In the last cups I've seen Serbia has been ran through Bogdanovich, which is obviously stupid. I don't think Jokic is the type of ego to demand the national team to give him the keys, but it really should be the coach who did that.

I thought maybe it was some old school Balkan ethnic hate, but Divac is also serbian, so I guess not.

[Kblaze8855]

I’m sure you know better than me, but from what I’ve seen those guys aren’t very NBA centric. I suspect Tone is way more proud of what he did internationally than about what he did in the NBA. I don’t know if he went home to live, but if he did, I’m sure the fans over there see it the same way. They do not **** around. You win a World Cup, or a silver medal versus the dream team you’ve got to be a made man over there for life

[90sgoat]

I’m sure you know better than me, but from what I’ve seen those guys aren’t very NBA centric. I suspect Tone is way more proud of what he did internationally than about what he did in the NBA. I don’t know if he went home to live, but if he did, I’m sure the fans over there see it the same way. They do not **** around. You win a World Cup, or a silver medal versus the dream team you’ve got to be a made man over there for life

It's a generational thing I think.

Vlade and Tonis generation for sure, there is nothing, legit nothing, that would beat playing for the national team. Same in soccer or other sports. Just the absolutely biggest thing you could accomplish in your life was to play for the national team. Winning some cup 30 years ago is still a source of national pride for many countries.

I don't think it's quite the same anymore, also in soccer. The younger generation are richer and less nationalistic and they seem to care a lot more about the ballclub that's paying the bills and don't really see it the same way.

[FultzNationRISE]

Just pumping up his peers Im sure. Id be curious to know tho what he thinks those guys were doing on the court that Jokic hasnt.

[FultzNationRISE]

Also, unrelated side note but growing up I always thought Divac was like, Pakistani. Didnt really occur to me back then that his name was of Slavic derivation, I just thought he looked like someone who would dump curry on every meal and wave his finger at Jerry Seinfeld while calling him a veddy veddy bad man. So I just assumed he was Paki or even Indian or something like that.

[90sgoat]

Also, unrelated side note but growing up I always thought Divac was like, Pakistani. Didnt really occur to me that his name was of Slavic derivation, I just thought he looked like someone who would dump curry on every meal and wave his finger at Jerry Seinfeld while calling him a veddy veddy bad man. So I just assumed he was Paki or even Indian or something like that.

:roll:

Maybe he is part gypsy. :pimp:

[Wardell Curry]

Kukoc would know. He played the game. He was an actual NBA player. We're just messageboard posters.

[90sgoat]

This is some serious disrespect though.

Either of Jokic or this era.

I think maybe it's disrespect to this era.

[SATAN]

we done wit da 90s!!

[elementally morale]

I'm old enough to have seen the 1988 Olympics live. I'd been playing organized, highly competitive basketball for many years then. Team Yugoslavia was absolutely stunning. Radja was the starting center so for quite some time I believed Divac was a lesser player. I was really surprised him going to the Lakers at the time.

Both were traditional centers but players at that time in Europe were playing the traditional way so it wasn't something that was talked much about.

However, neither Radja nor Divac were the stars of that team. Petrovic was and to a lesser extent Kukoc. Vlade Divac didn't seem to be more important than Vranko Paspalj. It's only important because these players never had a role nearly as big as Jokic has today. Comparing them to an NBA Jokic with international play in mind makes zero sense. War tore that team (and country) apart not much later.

I don't know what Kukoc's intentions are. Propping up Radja and Divac to something they were not surely elevates the rest of the team to a different level in the believers mind. However, that team was not propelled by its centers. Neither of them.

[90sgoat]

In terms of what Divac did as a euro center in a time where euros were not trusted at all, then I do understand somewhat, because he was the first euro big man to make it and that was at a time where the opposition wasn't Embiid ducking him, but Ewing, Shaq, Robinson, Hakeem, Daugherty, Mourning etc.

Jokic is great, but put him against who Divac faced and maybe he struggles more.

[bison]

Sad to see the oldhead/newhead rivalry extend to European hoopers now.

[elementally morale]

In terms of what Divac did as a euro center in a time where euros were not trusted at all, then I do understand somewhat, because he was the first euro big man to make it and that was at a time where the opposition wasn't Embiid ducking him, but Ewing, Shaq, Robinson, Hakeem, Daugherty, Mourning etc.

Jokic is great, but put him against who Divac faced and maybe he struggles more.

Divac was a great passer but him and Jokic do not play alike. Their roles are totally different. With Jokic it's not as much as the ability to see the open man and throw the right pass but to solve the game on the fly. The pass itself is often just the final touch and it was the play initiated by Jokic that resulted in the pass 5 or more seconds later. Divac was not a playmaker. He was a finisher who was also a very good passer. Comparing the two players doesn't really make sense. I'd rather compare Jokic to some great PG like Magic, especially in the halfcourt (and on some outlet passes).

Every player would/should need time to adjust to a different era. The Joker would definitely have som early troubles if you dropped him into the 90s overnight. The same is true to more static centers of the past imagined in 2024.

However, Divac never was a top player in the NBA. He was nowhere near to leading a team to a Finals as the best player and also not an MVP-caliber player. Radja was no better than Divac. A great talent is a great talent in all eras. It is no contest. really.

[Stephonit]

Is it just coincidence this comes out right after Doncic waves at Divac? I think not.

Divac played with Magic and he looked perfectly fine doing so.

[bison]

This shouldn’t be surprising from kukoc btw. That late 80s yugoslav were extremely close in a way American fans may not understand . For those guys it was the prime of their lives. Of course kukoc is gonna prop his guys up over Jokic.

[Axe]

Sadly no matter how successful they were bt, euros of the past are truly overshadowed by their new generations. As three-pointers made has become the sole criteria of judging how great players today are. Screw defenses lol.

[fsvr54]

I see Kukoc started a crack smoking hobby.

Jokic is making behind the back dribble 3s in Anthony Davis' face to clutch games in the Conference Finals...

[Wally450]

He's right, he's not on their level.

He's way above them.

[Phoenix]

This can't be taken other than going to bat for his guys, because whether in the context of NBA ball or International, this is a wild take. It may not be as laughable if he had made that comment about Sabonis, because peakwise he's the only Euro center I could see having impact in the realm of what you're seeing from Joker.

[Overdrive]

I doubt he’s talking strictly NBA. European players put a lot of weight on national team performance, and both of those guys were probably on Yugoslavia with him when they were winning gold in the World Cup and I think maybe being silver in the Olympics. I know they were silver but I’m not sure Dino was on the team in 92.

All those countries started breaking up when the Soviet Union did of course so I’m not sure where he landed. I know he was one of the top 50 all-time internationals when fiba put that list out in the early 90s. So was Vlade. Toni is probably talking basketball in general not the nba. But like you said we probably need a good translation.

In 92 Yugoslavia already split up. That was Croatia and Dino was the starting center.
Both Divac and Radja were great, but definately not on Jokic level.


Also, unrelated side note but growing up I always thought Divac was like, Pakistani. Didnt really occur to me back then that his name was of Slavic derivation, I just thought he looked like someone who would dump curry on every meal and wave his finger at Jerry Seinfeld while calling him a veddy veddy bad man. So I just assumed he was Paki or even Indian or something like that.

The balkan was annexed by the osman empire for centuries. The osman empire has its roots in inner asia so pakistani isn't that far off.

[ArbitraryWater]

Also, unrelated side note but growing up I always thought Divac was like, Pakistani. Didnt really occur to me back then that his name was of Slavic derivation, I just thought he looked like someone who would dump curry on every meal and wave his finger at Jerry Seinfeld while calling him a veddy veddy bad man. So I just assumed he was Paki or even Indian or something like that.


I see it now