Yahoo Sports Nikola Mirotic on his time in the NBA: 'There was so much trash talk that I was actually taking it personally'
"Speed, physicality, trash talk," Mirotic named his biggest challenges in the NBA during SKWEEK's Best In Class podcast. "Oh, I hated trash talk. I couldn't get used to that for a long time. During the practice and in the game, there was so much trash talk that I was actually taking it personally."
Source: BasketNews
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Olimpia Milano forward Nikola Mirotic opened up about his international career with Spain, talked about his beginnings at Real Madrid, and many other topics, from his childhood in Montenegro to the 2022 #EuroLeague MVP honors.
eurohoops.net/en/olympic-gam… - 10:40 AM
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Nikola Mirotic: Jimmy Butler is probably the hardest-working player I’ve ever seen. He had these crazy routines. He’d go to the practice facility at 3:00 a.m. with his personal coach. He’d lift weights at 3:00 a.m., then do basketball drills at 5:00 a.m. There were days when Jimmy would show up at practice, take off his shoes, and just sit on the side watching us practice. I’d wonder, “Why isn’t Jimmy practicing?” Then someone would tell me, “Jimmy already got his workout in with his coach earlier.” It was his own routine, and it worked for him. He had his own rhythm, and after a while, I understood it. Jimmy was great. Every night, whether he practiced with us or not, he gave his all in games. He competed every single night. -via YouTube / January 9, 2025
"Like my teammates were talking real trash, and after the practice, they were shaking hands, hugging me. I was like, 'What is this? We just fought at the practice, and now you're shaking hands with me? Come on,'" Mirotic recalled. "I had to get used to that. Also, short memory," he continued. "Here in Europe, you lose one game, OK; 2 games, it's already big drama; 3 games, there's a meeting, the president coming, and the media talking. "In the NBA, you lose one game, 'Don't worry.' 2nd game, 'We're good.' 3rd game you lose: 'A long season.' 4th game, 'OK, stick together, guys.' So it can be like this for 10 [consecutive] games. -via BasketNews / January 9, 2025
"Rajon Rondo started to go crazy in practices, talking so much in the film session," Mirotic remembered. "You saw Rajon Rondo always in front of a computer watching films, and he was like so confident that we're gonna actually beat Portland, and Portland was having an amazing season, and Damian Lillard was killing everybody, so we went to Portland, and actually somebody was knocking on my door. "It was like 2 or 3 a.m., and it was Rajon Rondo with the computer showing me, 'Tomorrow we have to do this. You have to cut this way or set the pick like this.' I was like, 'Rajon, we're playing tomorrow. It's 3 a.m.' He was, 'But this is very important; you sleep with this.' I felt like how serious this was, and we swept Portland 4-0. It was insane. -via BasketNews / January 9, 2025
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Nikola Mirotic on his time in the NBA: 'There was so much trash talk that I was actually taking it personally'
