By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
If European players are increasingly popular in the NBA, this has not always been the case and especially during the 90s. American stars had also taken very badly the fact that a star from the Old Continent was so popular before arriving in the US… and the Dream Team was responsible for letting him know it during the 1992 Olympics.
When we talk about the Bulls of the 90s, the main names that come up are usually those of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman or Phil Jackson. But a superteam is not just about its Big Three and its coach, especially when it has other incredibly talented players. As a bench leader, how can we not cite a certain Toni Kukoc for example:
This video by Toni Kukoc ❤️pic.twitter.com/VLl3OXd0vM
— Gigantes del Basket (@GIGANTESbasket) September 19, 2023
Triple NBA champion with Chicago, double European champion and even world champion with Yugoslavia, the Croatian remains to this day one of the best international players to have played in the NBA. Ultra-complete and tough, he was even voted Sixth Man of the Year during the legendary 1995-96 season, when the Bulls won 72 victories. His contribution coming off the bench was clearly not unrelated.
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The XXL hazing of the Dream Team for Toni Kukoc in 1992
Before his draft in 29th position during the 1990 edition, his name was on the lips of many scouts and managers. However, the American players did not really appreciate it when FIBA athletes came to walk on their lawns. Kukoc only joined the Bulls in 1993 but before that, he was treated to a very special hazing from Team USA during the Barcelona Olympic Games, in the group stage:
I learned about it from an ESPN documentary many years later. They were all arguing over who was going to defend on me. They were talking about letting anyone else score, but not me. Jordan, Pippen, Drexler, Magic all wanted to take me 1v1 and show me off. They wanted me to understand that I was still far from being ready for the NBA.
Results of this “favorable treatment”, a poor performance with 4 points at 2/11 shooting and seven ball losses. Suffice to say that the message had been sent… Fortunately, the big man didn’t take it too badly and even learned lessons from it for the future:
I understood that I would have to earn respect. I arrived in the best team in the world. You must put aside all your accolades and pride. It doesn’t matter how good you were in Europe. I was okay with that.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were particularly keen to assess the level of Toni Kukoc, since he joined them a few months later in Chicago. The good news is that he recovered very well from this painful experience to the point of becoming an essential cog in the Illinois steamroller.
2024-02-18 21:20:00
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