Darko Miličić

Darko Miličić (born 20 June 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He is 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in), and played the center position. Miličić played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2003 to 2013. He is the fifth youngest player and the youngest foreign player to have played in the NBA, and is the youngest player to have played in an NBA Finals game and the youngest player to win the NBA championship.

I’m a born winner. I don’t like losing, even in card games.

Quotes

2010s

• I thought as a kid that talent was God-given, but it’s not. God gives you talent and you should use that talent with the real meaning of that word. I was stubborn. Maybe being young had something to do with it.
  • As quoted in "Storyline: Whatever Happened to Darko Milicic" (21 March 2016), HoopsHype

• I said okay, but just not Memphis. Anywhere but there. And, of course, I went to Memphis.
  • As quoted in "Storyline: Whatever Happened to Darko Milicic" (21 March 2016), HoopsHype

• I don’t miss basketball. I live very well, thank God. I have my interests, interests in agriculture.
  • As quoted in "Storyline: Whatever Happened to Darko Milicic" (21 March 2016), HoopsHype

• It’s all funny to me. I finally get a chance to play and [Dikembe Mutombo] starts taunting me and daring me to fight. Why would I need that? I didn’t understand half of what he said. I mean, he's been there [in the U.S.] 20 years and still doesn’t know the [English] language well enough. Nobody in particular annoyed me, but Kobe Bryant is the dirtiest player with the things he does on the court... But without a doubt he is a beast. He was amazing.
  • As quoted in "Storyline: Whatever Happened to Darko Milicic" (21 March 2016), HoopsHype

• I kind of feel like Old Darko died. Like, when I think about myself, or myself when I was playing, I feel like I’m sort of thinking about someone who is dead.
  • As quoted in "Finding Darko" (8 February 2017), by Sam Borden, ESPN

• My experience in the NBA was a catastrophe, because I’m a born winner. I don’t like losing, even in card games.
  • As quoted in "Miserable at every NBA stop, Darko Milicic has found peace as a farmer" (14 March 2017), by Ben Rohrbach, Yahoo! Sports

• I’d do a lot of things differently now. It’s true I ended up on a team trying to win a ring, which rarely happens to a No. 2 pick, but in the end we’re all looking for excuses. I could say I didn’t get a proper chance, but that’s simply an excuse; it’s up to a young player to prove himself, work hard and wait for his chance. My approach was completely different. As a No. 2 pick coming from Europe, I thought I was sent by God, so I got into fights, got drunk before practices, spiting everyone, but I was spiting myself.
  • As quoted in "Ex-Piston Darko Milicic admits to getting drunk before practice" (15 March 2017), MLive

2020s

• We are not kids, we are adults. I hope you are old enough to understand that life is full of ups and downs.
  • As quoted in "Darko Responds To Carmelo About '03 Draft: 'Not Necessary To Ridicule'" (31 March 2020), 97.1 The Ticket

• It is not necessary to judge and ridicule when, thank God, you have not passed the path that I have. To them, as always, I wish everyone good and every honor on their careers and in further life a lot of success and less condemnation.
  • As quoted in "Darko Responds To Carmelo About '03 Draft: 'Not Necessary To Ridicule'" (31 March 2020), 97.1 The Ticket

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Darko Miličić on Wikipedia