Former NBA All-Star argues a fictional Yugoslavia with Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic would battle Team USA
Looking at the current NBA landscape, several European players have made a name for themselves, such as Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic. With the reputation of European athletes continuing to get stronger in the league, former NBA All-Star Goran Dragic argued that if Yugoslavia remained a united country today, it would have been a competitive matchup against Team USA.
Dragic shared his comments in an interview with former Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller on their "The OGs Show" podcast.
"You know back in the day, imagine a national team," Dragic said, "you had Drazen Petrovic, Dino Rada, Valde Divac. Even now, if we would still exist the same country, you would have Luka, Jokic, Vucevic, Bogdanovic ... we could play against you guys, you know."
Following all the players that he listed in a fictional Yugoslavia international basketball team, Haslem and Miller all agreed that a unit like that would make things interesting against Team USA.
Luka Doncic finds it easier to score in the NBA compared to the Euroleague
In an interview with JJ Redick on "The Old Man and The Three Podcast," Luka Doncic made an interesting comparison between the NBA and the Euroleague when it came to which league makes it easier to put the ball in the basket.
"I would say that scoring is easier in the NBA just because of the different rules, the amount of space, the time, so that's why I said it's easier to score in the NBA," Doncic said.
"Scoring 30 points in a Euroleague game, it's harder than in an NBA game, 100% percent. I'm just saying this because of the rules."
In his early days playing in the Euroleague, the Dallas Mavericks star left a good impression. Fast forward to now, and he is considered to be one of the most elite scorers in the league with his impeccable shotmaking and how efficiently he does it.
He argued that this is all due to certain rules that vastly differ from how basketball is played in the Euroleague. He pointed out the prioritization of team basketball over individual production.
However, he did highlight that the challenge of playing in his current league can be seen in how tough it is to guard several players who are all talented offensively.
In the six seasons he's played in the league, Luka Doncic is averaging 28.7 points (47.0% shooting, including 34.7% from 3-point range), 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.