Nikola Vucevic talks to BasketNews about the perks of playing with Montenegro, explains why he wouldn't be tempted to leave the NBA anytime soon, reveals an offer he received from a EuroLeague powerhouse in 2011, and names the team he would play for in case he came back to Europe.
Nikola Vucevic's 20-point performance wasn't enough for Montenegro, who were unable to go the distance with hosts Greece in their first friendly game.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo being unavailable for coach Vassilis Spanoulis, Vucevic dominated the paint, adding 11 rebounds and 3 assists in 33 minutes.
"It was a tough game for us. They came out really aggressive from the beginning and played well and fast," Vucevic, 33, told BasketNews.
Greece shot a total of 41 3-point shots, making 14 of them en route to a comfortable victory. Montenegro could hardly keep up with the pace imposed by the home side.
"They made a lot of shots. We didn't, but they're a really good team," he added.
"A lot of them have big roles on their teams, in the EuroLeague. We are a very young team, with a lot of guys that don't necessarily play a lot of minutes."
As a matter of fact, Bayern Munich's Dino Radoncic is the only active EuroLeague player on Montenegro's roster that will compete in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will be held in Latvia between July 2 and 7.
Even though Montenegro's first scrimmage didn't turn out the way Vucevic and his teammates would have hoped for, theChicago Bullsbig man maintains that it still was a good learning experience. On Wednesday, the Balkan team will square off against the Bahamas in their second and last friendly at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus.
Coming off his fourth season with the Chicago Bulls, which amounted to him averaging 18.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest, Vucevic is once again back with the Montenegrin NT. The veteran player isn't used to skipping major tournaments and the challenge of playing his first Olympics is big enough to motivate him -- even if the NBA seasons are tough and long.
"It feels good to be back, although we have a different team," he said. "A lot of our veterans are not here, because of injuries and different reasons. We have a chance to play in the qualifying tournament for the Olympics. So we're excited. We're going to try to do the best we can and get there."
Being able to represent Montenegro in every competition has been fun for Vucevic, who's always eager to play for the national team.
"I mean, it's a huge honor also to play against the best players in the world in different competitions. It's always fun. And yeah, it's a huge honor to take your country to all those big competitions and try to play the best you can," Vucevic enthusiastically noted.
"We had a great World Cup and before that, we had a really good EuroBasket. So hopefully we can continue that. Finishing 11th in the world for us was a huge success.I think it was definitely the best tournament we played, and the best year we had.
It was years of build-up, just playing different tournaments, and gathering experience. We're a small country, with not so many players, but we've done well so far," he repeated.
Vucevic, selected 16th in the 2011 NBA Draft, has been playing in the world's top league for the last 13 years. He's currently making $18.5 million per season, according to his Bulls contract. It's an amount no European club can afford to spend. Most importantly, Vucevic is still an important NBA player, who's likely to keep landing NBA deals in the near future.
Hence, it makes perfect sense that he's not considering moving to Europe anytime soon.
"I don't know. It depends," was his first response when asked about the possibility.
"I mean I've been in NBA for 13 years now. I have two more years on my contract. I like to stay there as much as I can because it is the best league and you play against the best players. So, probably not.
And also I wouldn't want to come back here if I'm not the same player anymore. You know, if it's not the same me and I'm not at the same level that I was, I don't want to come here and have a bad experience and have the fans watch a different version of me," he explained.
"So you never know. But for now, I'm focusing on the NBA."
Vucevic clarified that no EuroLeague team has knocked on his door in the last years, but revealed that when he came back to the Old Continent to join Buducnost during the NBA lockout in 2011, a traditional powerhouse showed interest in him.
"When I was younger, there were some talks about Olympiacos. But that was a long time ago but I ended up going home. That was 13 years ago. But since I was younger and went to college, I didn't have any offers," he assured.
In any case, and if he should ever consider taking the overseas route, Crvena Zvezda would be his first choice.
"They would definitely be the favorites to go back, for sure," he confirmed.
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