Toni Kukoc talked fundamentals on the Croatian show Sport Nedjeljom. The former Chicago Bulls forward, now the club’s special advisor, played part of his 945-game NBA career there and won three titles between 1996 and 1998. He believes Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic have a high basketball IQ, which he says comes from the European and Balkan school.
“Jokic and Doncic possess high basketball IQ that comes from the European, Balkan school of fundamentals. They have the basics down to an absolute science, and their understanding of the game is far more advanced than the rest of the league,” he told Eurohoops.
Kukoc calls Jokic a “phenomenal basketball genius”, but notes that in his day the paint was clogged with massive, traditional centres, whereas Jokic doesn’t have to face three physical defensive centres every night. He also acknowledges that Jokic, Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have each won MVP, while refusing to admit they surpass Drazen Petrovic, Dino Radja, Vlade Divac, Arvydas Sabonis or Sarunas Marciulionis. He adds that today’s MVP-calibre players benefit from modern sports science, dieticians and recovery systems his generation never had. Kukoc also brought up the documentary series The Last Dance, and the value of versatility on the floor, a standard he says he learned under Phil Jackson.
I called my mother, in Indiana, on Sunday, to read her that. She asked me what fundamentals meant for a man from Split. I said: the same thing it means for a man from Charleroi. The pass at the right moment, three dribbles before the free throw, knowing where you need to be before the ball even gets there. My mother asked whether Kukoc had played against centres like the ones from her own era, the kind who took up the whole paint. I said yes, and that’s why he still talks about it. She thought it sounded a lot like what I’ve been telling my under-10s for twenty-five years, except they don’t have a dietician yet. I said the box-out hasn’t changed since Split, Charleroi, or Indiana. She said: see?
It’s true, we checked: Eurohoops.
