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Goran Dragic, who finished his Heat career as one of the best point guards in franchise history, was in the Kaseya Center crowd for Jakucionis’ preseason debut on Wednesday. This came after Dragic spent time working with Jakucionis during a training camp practice in Boca Raton last week. “It means a lot to have a mentor like him and to take all the information he has,” Jakucionis said of Dragic. “He tells me all the advice, and I’m just trying to listen to him as much as I can, ask him questions. Whenever I have a question, I’ll ask him and just try to take it all in.”
“He has been coming around more often,” Spoelstra said of Dragic following Wednesday’s practice. “I tried to recruit him to the coaching staff and wisely he said no. But he said he does want to help, he does want to be involved. So we’re just working with him right now to find out what the best fit will be. We’re both open to the possibilities.” One thing is for sure, Spoelstra wants Dragic to continue helping the Heat. “I just like having him around,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not just exclusively working with Kas. He has great experience. Everybody respects him. He has a great way of communicating to guys. I think he just naturally fits a mentorship role. But he can also add value to scouting and other areas. I think we’ll be able to make, hopefully, something work for both sides.”
Tim Reynolds: Spo says the plan is for the Heat to find a place for Goran Dragic to formally be part of the organization. He’s helping in various ways right now. Goran doesn’t want to coach yet, Spo said.
So which NBA players deserve praise for cutting into their vacation time to spend their summers on the court? Using the FIBA website and other sources, we tracked the players who have spent the most years representing their countries in international competitions. Among players with at least one NBA All-Star appearance, No. 1 is Pau Gasol, widely regarded as the GOAT of FIBA tournaments, followed by his brother Marc and Slovenian star Goran Dragic. While the Gasol brothers and Tony Parker, also high on this list, were always competing for medals, some other stars did not and still devoted plenty of time to FIBA tournaments. Dirk Nowitzki, who rarely had teammates anywhere near his level and only won two medals with Germany, would be a prime example.
That kind of mentality — to always show up, to always be available — is one of the reasons the Miami Heat values Jović so highly. “I’m sure it’s not easy for them, just like for other NBA teams. You’re letting someone play for their country, paying them a lot of money, and they’re important to you. An injury would definitely be a setback for them. But, by chance — and to my great fortune — I’m part of the Miami team that had Goran Dragić. They say themselves that he always came back better from international tournaments [with Slovenia]. It’s an honor and a pleasure for them to let me play for Serbia. Of course, it all starts with me — I’m always the one who would give anything to play. And the fact that they support me and want me to be with Serbia only gives me more motivation. And it makes it easier for me,” Jović concluded.
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And to see the talent that EuroCamp has now... and obviously, it was talented when you were there. What's it like to see the difference? Goran Dragic: I think it’s a huge difference, especially the style of basketball, it changed a lot. Back in the day, I was just talking to [Sergio] Rodriguez yesterday that usually we had 6-2, 6-3 point-guards, and now you cannot find them anymore. Everybody’s 6-6, 6-7, and they’re playing on the ball, off the ball. The game changed a lot, but I think basketball is in good hands.
Was there ever a 'welcome to the NBA' moment or that you realized that the league was completely different than Europe? Goran Dragic: Yes. I remember… I think it was Jamaal Tinsley. I was a rookie and maybe the third or fourth game of the season. I didn’t play much at first. Coach put me in the last three, four minutes of the game and I was guarding him. And he put the ball between my legs and he caught the ball on the other side and lay it up. And then I said, okay. You know what, I got embarrassed. The next possession I did exactly the same thing to him. So I was like, you know what, this is going to be fun. But I do have to be more engaged in this. That was kind of a welcome moment for me.
As someone who's played in both Europe and NBA, to you, who are the greatest five NBA players and who are the five best European players? Goran Dragic: I’m going to start with Nikola Jokic at the five position. I have to go with my guy, Luka [Doncic], as the point guard. Then, of course, Michael [Jordan] as the two-guard. I played a conference finals against Kobe [Bryant], and he really dismantled us. So I’m going to put Kobe as a three-guard. And then at the four, you have LeBron [James], you have Larry Bird. You know what, I’m going to go old school, and I’m going to put Bird in, you know?
Special guests include Derrick Rose, Sergio Rodriguez, Goran Dragić, and Guerschon Yabusele, who will share their experience with the next generation of global talent.
Jorge Sierra: Damian Lillard passed Gary Payton in scoring last night and is No. 38 all-time now. Suns sixth man Bradley Beal moved ahead of Buck Williams for No. 107 in NBA history. Zach LaVine (29) has now scored more points than Derrick Rose and Goran Dragic.
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Looking back now, would you had ever imagined how your career played out? Goran Dragic: I’m really happy with my career. 15 years in the league. Of course as a kid, you always dream of someday to make it in the NBA, but I never thought I would play for 15 years. I was really fortunate that I could do it. Of course I was always dreaming about an NBA ring. I was in the Finals, but I got close and I never achieved that goal. But in life, there’s going to be tough times and good times. If I look back, I have a great career. I played many playoff games, I was on an All-NBA Team, I was an All-Star, so as a kid I would sign that up right away [laughs]. To be those things, as a kid I was just trying to make it in the league. In the end, I really think that I overachieved.
Who was the best player in the league when you played? Goran Dragic: Definitely it’s Kobe Bryant. If I go back, I play the 2010 Western Conference Finals, Phoenix versus Lakers, I see that Mamba mentality. It was unbelievable. We put like three or four guys on Kobe, and he was just smiling and shooting over three guys and scoring. He had a good team. He had Pau Gasol, [Andrew] Bynum, [Jordan] Farmar, [Lamar] Odom, all these players, but when the game was on the line, we all know where the ball was going to go, but we couldn’t stop it. So for me, for sure it was Kobe Bryant at that time. And then you have D-Wade, LeBron James, you have many many players, I would say Kobe was the best closer, and D-Wade. When I played with D-Wade I saw so many games where he would take the ball and bring us home. And that was unbelievable.
How many titles do you think your good friend Luka Doncic will win by the time he retires? Goran Dragic: I really don’t know. That all depends on the front office, how they are gonna surround him with players. Last year they were really good. I think nobody expect them to play in the Finals. The chemistry with him and Kyrie [Irving] was really amazing, and everyone followed. I do think that signing Klay Thompson, they are going to have a lot more firepower, but at the end of the day, are they going to be able to play defense? So you never know, especially with now in the NBA, there’s a lot of good teams. You have OKC, they gonna be good, you got Minnesota, you got Phoenix, you can never doubt Lakers with LeBron, then you have Denver with Nikola Jokic, Dallas is here, then you got Boston, you got Miami, Milwaukee is a team that disappointed last year, but we’ll see. I believe that Luka will win MVP because he’s such a good player. He’s putting up crazy numbers, but it all depends on the front office, how they gonna surround him with a team. I think they have a chance, but we’ll see. I definitely wish him to win one because he’s a good friend of mine, and he’s coming from Slovenia, we have actually five guys who won it, Rasho Nesterovic, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, Vlatko Cancar, and I wish him to be the fifth one.
Udonis Haslem: I have seen your nightlife. Ain’t a thing going on where you had to rush that man from New York to get to see that. Listen, I caught myself trying to go out to grab a drink with Goran Dragić. That’s the scariest [expletive] I ever seen. Like, from X-Files, scared the s*** out of you. Scary out there, man. You think you finna stop and get a drink, you in for some [expletive] from Walking Dead. I’m like, hold on, man, everybody can’t look like this, everybody can’t look like this, like what is— what’s going on? No, no, no, listen, I’m just telling you what I see, man, I ain’t making this [expletive] up (...) I mean, clubs, I’ll tell you that. Yes, it was— pay them to keep that [expletive] on. I’m just saying. You know what, here, couple extra dollars I got, just put that [expletive] back on, don’t even worry about it, I’m cool. I’m from Miami. I wasn’t used to that. I was like, hold up. Listen, y’all need to come down to Miami and get a workshop. They need to come down to Miami and get a workshop because you’re doing it the wrong way."