3. COMING
N
ikola Mirotic is hardly your typical NBA rookie. When
the young European joined the Chicago Bulls over the
summer, it was a long awaited and much anticipated
arrival. For Mirotic, who played five years professionally in
Spain, it was a matter of the timing being right. Now, as he
experiences his first season, Mirotic knows his transition won’t
be easy. But everyone who knows him believes he’s got what
it takes to get the job done.
AMERICA
TO
2014/2015ChicagoBullsYearbook@CHICAGOBULLS135
BY ADAM FLUCK
4. NIKOLAMIROTIC:COMINGTOAMERICA2014/2015ChicagoBullsYearbook@CHICAGOBULLS136
GROWING UP IN MONTENEGRO
AND DISCOVERING BASKETBALL
In February, 1991 Nikola Mirotic was born in Podgorica,
the capital city of Montenegro, a place he called home
for the first 15 years of his life. Montenegro, a country
of about 625,000, is located in Southeastern Europe
and bordered by the Adriatic Sea, Croatia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania.
“It’s very beautiful with nice people who [are] very
polite,” says Mirotic, who along with his parents, Ranko
and Dragana, and older brother Filip, lived just over a
half hour between the sea and mountains.
Like a lot of boys who grew up in Podgorica,
Mirotic played soccer at a young age. He even dreamed
of someday starring for the local club, FK Buducnost
Podgorica.
“It’s not a world famous team, but we have talent,
great young players there, just like America with bas-
ketball,” explains Mirotic. “We are a small country and
many of the most talented players from Montenegro are
in the European leagues.”
It wasn’t until after Mirotic turned 13 that he started
playing basketball. Before then he focused only on
“fútbol,” as he likes to call it. That is, until a wise family
elder talked him into giving basketball a try.
“As I started growing up, I was always playing
fútbol,” recalls Mirotic. “One day, I was talking with my
grandfather and he said, ‘Hey, you need to go practice
basketball. I know of a school named Joker.’ I told him,
‘No, I like fútbol. I don’t want to go.’ He said, ‘Just go to
one practice and you will see. You will like it.’ I went and
he was right — I immediately felt something very special
playing basketball.”
The Joker School of Basketball in Podgorica is where
Mirotic, then around 6’5”, first met Jadran Vujacic, a
fellow Montenegrin and former professional basketball
player who helped Mirotic fall in love with the game.
“Jadran really did everything
for me,” says Mirotic. “He is the
one who pushed me to being a
basketball player.”
Vujacic quickly recognized
Mirotic’s raw ability as the two
worked out daily. They even-
tually set a goal of getting
Mirotic to where he could play
professionally in Spain, Italy
or Greece. Bulls Director of
International Scouting, Ivica
Dukan, discovered Mirotic not
long after.
“Jadran and I played against each other [in Europe].
He played for Partisan Belgrade and we competed
against each other a lot,” remembers Dukan. “That’s
how I found out about Nikola.”
After two years at Joker, all the work that Mirotic
and Vujacic spent in the gym began to pay off. During
a workout in Campos, Spain, Mirotic caught the eye of
a couple of Real Madrid scouts. Shortly thereafter, he
joined their program, and the relationship with Vujacic
continued to grow. In fact, each summer, including this
past one, Mirotic travels to Montenegro just to spend
time with Vujacic so the two can continue practicing.
“I speak with [Jadran] all the time. He is, for me,
a father for basketball,” says Mirotic.
A couple of years after Nikola signed on with Real
Madrid, Vujacic became Mirotic’s father-in-law, as the
6’10” forward married Jadran’s daughter, Nina. This past
summer, Nikola and Nina welcomed their first child,
a boy named Aleksej.
The Joker School of
Basketball in Podgorica
is where Mirotic, then
around 6’5”, first met
Jadran Vujacic, a
fellow Montenegrin
and former professional
basketball player who
helped Mirotic fall in
love with the game.
7. NIKOLAMIROTIC:COMINGTOAMERICA2014/2015ChicagoBullsYearbook@CHICAGOBULLS139
MOVING TO MADRID WHERE
THINGS GOT REAL
Though Mirotic was just a teenager when he left for
Madrid, the magnitude of the opportunity was not lost
on the then 15-year-old basketball prodigy.
“I started to believe that I could be something,” says
Mirotic. “But it was hard. [Going to Spain] was a big
change for me.”
The transition from living in Montenegro to Spain
was eased a great deal when Nikola’s parents decid-
ed they would also move to Madrid in order to be with
their son. Then in his second season, Mirotic moved to
a residence hall where he lived with other young
players who had signed to join Real Madrid’s program.
During this stretch he continued to attend school,
living a comparable life to that of a high school
student-athlete in America. It also was during this
period when Dukan first saw Mirotic play.
“Nikola was about 16,” recalls Dukan. “I saw him working
out with Real Madrid’s top team and I said, ‘Who the
heck is that kid?’ He was skinny, but you could tell, just
like today, that he was very skilled. He had the ability to
shoot. He also had some impressive post-up moves. He
was just a baby, but his skill and size, I liked those right
away. I thought he was somebody I needed to follow.”
Different divisions exist within Real Madrid with play-
ers primarily grouped by age but Mirotic’s advanced
skills and rapid improvement had him jump from the
cadets team to the junior team before ultimately joining
the senior team by the time he hit 17.
“It was a big step,” says Mirotic. “It was hard, but
a good experience. I was very young, but I learned a lot.
I had great coaches.
“That first year with the senior team, they didn’t
expect I would stay long,” adds Mirotic. “But I played
really well and surprised them. So they kept me around.
I played 15-20 minutes a game.”
At 19, Mirotic signed his first professional contract
with Real Madrid. That same year, Nina came to join
him in Spain and his future started to take shape. While
playing for Spain at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20
Championship Tournament, Mirotic averaged a record
27 points and 10 rebounds, earning MVP honors. In 2011,
Mirotic was named the Euroleague’s Rising Star Award
honoree. The following season, he did it again, marking
the only time a player has claimed the honor more than
once.
“It was a great feeling,” says Mirotic of his accom-
plishment. “It meant that I was doing a great job and
growing as a player.
“Basketball is a team sport so it was impossible for me
to win [the award] without [the] help of my teammates
and coaches. But it felt really good [to win].”
Though Mirotic was
just a teenager when
he left for Madrid,
the magnitude of
the opportunity
was not lost on the
then 15-year-old
basketball prodigy.
8. NIKOLAMIROTIC:COMINGTOAMERICA2014/2015ChicagoBullsYearbook@CHICAGOBULLS140
At the same time, Mirotic says he also knew he wasn’t
close to being a finished product, and that his game still
had a lot of room for improvement.
“I like to be in [the] gym very early before practice, an
hour before it starts,” says Mirotic. “I stay after practice.
In the summer, I practice a lot; I really don’t take a lot of
time to rest.
“I think a lot about basketball, always try to be focused.
I try to learn from other players with experience. If you
want to be good at something, you need to learn from
others, especially if you are young. I think that’s import-
ant, [the] best way to grow as a player. Be focused,
work hard every day and learn.”
In April 2010, as Mirotic continued to shine with Real
Madrid, he was chosen to participate at the Nike Hoop
Summit held in Portland, Oregon, as a member of the
World Select team. At the end of the week, Mirotic
and his teammates faced a USA Junior National Select
Team featuring future NBA players Kyrie Irving,
Harrison Barnes and Jared Sullinger. It just so happened
that Dukan’s son, Duje, was a teammate of Mirotic’s at
the Summit, and Dukan flew to Portland and spent the
week watching Mirotic and his son practice together.
Though Dukan had already seen Mirotic play in Spain,
the two had never spoken to each other until that week.
Mirotic scored 14 points, shooting six-of-thirteen
from the field, and added seven rebounds in 25 minutes
against Team USA, who won the game, 101-97.
“I had a chance to study him,” recalls Dukan. “They
practiced twice a day. Nikola was pretty good in the
game. From then, I saw him every year. I would go to
see him in Europe about two or three times each year.”
Dukan wasn’t the only Bulls front office member
on hand in Portland that week. General Manager Gar
Forman also saw Mirotic play and came away very
impressed.
“Nikola’s talent was very evident,” recalls Forman.
“Duke had known of him for several years so he was on
our radar.”
Despite performing well in front of a crowd of high
ranking league executives, playing in the NBA still had
not crossed Mirotic’s mind.
“Believe me, it was a good experience, something new,
but I still was not thinking about [the] NBA because at
the time I was happy [playing] in Europe,” Mirotic says.
“I liked how European basketball is played and I was
thinking I would spend more time there.”
The following spring, Mirotic was approached by
his agent about entering the 2011 NBA Draft. It’s not
uncommon for young European players to enter the
Draft simply to get a sense of interest from NBA teams
before ultimately withdrawing. Mirotic had just signed a
long-term contract with Real Madrid, so he eventually
planned to pull his name out of the Draft, but at the last
minute he changed his mind.
“Duke had developed a personal relationship with
Nikola so he knew that we really liked him,” explains
Forman. “At the end of the day, that was an important
factor in Nikola staying in the Draft.”
The thought of one day coming to Chicago to play
for the Bulls was tempting. So Mirotic chose to keep his
name in the pool of available players just to see what
would happen.
EYE ON THE NBA
The Bulls entered the 2011 NBA Draft with a pair of
late first round picks, Nos. 28 and 30, and according to
Forman, selecting Mirotic was a “priority.”
Team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf had been briefed
on Forman’s intentions and gave his blessing. However,
it wasn’t as simple as just waiting patiently and then
selecting Mirotic once Chicago’s turn came up. On the
night of the Draft, the Bulls caught wind of a credible
rumor that another team with a higher pick was
planning to grab Mirotic out from under them. So
Forman began working the phones and eventually
pulled off a trade that sent the No. 28 pick, which
ended up being Norris Cole, and Chicago’s second
round pick, No. 43, Malcolm Lee, and cash to the
Minnesota Timberwolves for the chance to move up
to the No. 23 slot where the Bulls could select Mirotic
before anyone else could.
“Jerry [Reinsdorf] put in a good chunk [of money] in
order for us to move up,” recalls Forman.
Chicago then chose Jimmy Butler with the 30th
overall pick. Whereas Butler joined the team right away
and over the past three seasons has developed into one
of the NBA’s premier defenders, the Bulls understood
adding Mirotic to the team’s mix was going to take
some time.
Despite performing
well in front of a crowd
of high ranking league
executives, playing in
the NBA still had not
crossed Mirotic’s mind.
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“We knew going in that if we drafted Nikola, we would
have to be patient and allow him to stay in Spain
because of his contractual situation with Real Madrid,”
says Forman.
Mirotic, on the other hand, began giving the NBA
serious thought once the Bulls owned his draft rights.
“Before that, I was never thinking of [the] NBA,” says
Mirotic. “I was thinking I would stay in Spain and try to
be [the] best player in Europe.”
After the Draft, Forman and his staff shifted their
focus to getting to know Mirotic as a person.
“We felt it was important for all of us to build a
personal connection with Nikola,” explains Forman.
“We wanted to let him know how much we thought
of him as a player. From that point on, we stayed in
regular contact him and his agent.
“I remember the first time we met Nikola, he seemed
pretty nervous,” remembers Forman. “So we tried
to put him at ease right away. Then each time we
went over [to Europe] to visit he seemed to feel more
comfortable. I think our patient approach gave him
the time he needed to process the idea of coming over
to play in the NBA.
“We saw right away that Nikola is an A-plus guy with
an incredible make up and character,” adds Forman.
“He is very, very grounded for as talented as he is. You
can tell he gets it. Coaches that have worked with him
in the past always rave about his work ethic.”
Forman was also on hand when Mirotic and Real
Madrid traveled to North America to play the Memphis
Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors in a pair of preseason
games in October 2012. Afterwards, Memphis All-
Stars Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph raved about
Mirotic. Both said they felt he had the talent to do
well in the NBA. Those games also provided Mirotic a
much-needed confidence boost.
“I don’t remember how many points [I scored],
but [I believed] I played well. I felt happy,” says Mirotic.
“I started to think I could play in [the] NBA.”
SWEET HOME CHICAGO
The process of getting Mirotic to Chicago had
a unique set of circumstances and complications.
Mirotic’s contract with Real Madrid included a
significant financial buyout for the final season.
After some give-and-take, the two sides came
together on an agreement that each believed was
fair, freeing Mirotic to jump to the Bulls for the start
of the 2014-15 NBA season.
“We saw right
away that Nikola is
an A-plus guy with
an incredible make
up and character…
He is very, very
grounded for as
talented as he is.”
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“Until that happened, there was always the possibility
of Nikola going back to Real Madrid this year,” acknowl-
edges Forman. “We didn’t know until July that he would
be would able to sign with us.
“It was always our goal to get him here as soon
as possible.”
After playing five years in Europe, Mirotic had
compiled an impressive resume: besides twice being
named the Euroleague’s Rising Star (2011, 2012), he’s
also a two-time Spanish King’s Cup Champion (2012,
2014), a two-time Spanish SuperCup Champion (2012,
2013), a Spanish League Champion (2013), a Spanish
League MVP (2013), a two-time All-ACB Team (2013,
2014) and a Spanish King’s Cup MVP (2014).
On the afternoon of
July 17th, 2014, Mirotic,
along with Pau Gasol,
who just happened to
be on the same flight
out of Madrid, arrived
in Chicago to sign
new contracts with
the Bulls. The next day
the team introduced
both to the Chicago
media and later that
evening each threw
out a ceremonial first
pitch before a Chicago
White Sox game at U.S.
Cellular Field.
Mirotic had formally
turned the page and
began a new chapter in
his life, and who better
to do it with than Gasol,
a 13-year NBA veteran and two-time World Champi-
on, a player who also began his pro career in Spain,
playing for FC Barcelona.
While having Gasol as a teammate will surely help
Mirotic’s acclimation to the NBA, it comes back to what
he does best, which is why the Bulls are confident he
will fit right in.
“Nikola gives us an element we haven’t had around
here — a big man who can shoot the ball from distance.
But he’s more than just a guy who can shoot,” says
Forman. “He can put it on the floor and take the ball
to the basket. He’s also a very good passer. He can
take his man under the basket and score. He can do
a lot of things. But at the same time, he’s still not a
finished product. He needs to get stronger. But he’s
got a high ceiling because of his size and ability.
Nikola can become an impact player in our league
because he’s got a lot of ability.”
Early reviews of Mirotic have been promising. Just a
couple days into training camp, Bulls Head Coach Tom
Thibodeau praised Mirotic for his professional approach
and understanding of the challenges he faces.
“[Nikola’s] got a great attitude and he’s going to be a
very good player,” said Thibodeau. “He still has a lot to
learn, so we’ll take it day by day, keep concentrating on
daily improvement. He’s got a lot of pride and also a
great work ethic. Those are the things you look for with
young players.
“How much he plays this year, I just don’t know. But
I really like who he is.”
Two-time NBA All-Star center Joakim Noah also likes
what he has seen of his rookie teammate.
“[Nikola’s] pretty good, man. He’s really good,” says
Noah. “He adds a different dimension [to the game]. He
is a lot more than just a shooter. He’s a great shooter
and he’s doing a lot of things that are pretty surprising.
You don’t think of a stretch four as a guy who can also
block shots and run the floor. Niko’s a helluva player.”
“Nikola’s going to figure things out like he did when
he first moved from Montenegro to Spain,” says Dukan.
“The NBA is new for him, but he’s played under a lot of
pressure before. He’s already been on one of the best
teams in the world, played in one of the top leagues
in the world. He’s been on a big stage. He was MVP
on a big stage. People are going to be surprised just
how ready he is because he’s not a typical rookie. He
is young. He is 23, but he’s been through a lot already.”
Mirotic also looks to the future with a sense of
excitement and confidence.
“It is hard to believe,” Mirotic says of being in Chicago.
“It’s awesome, really. It’s an amazing feeling to be a part
of this great team, organization, a team with history.
I want to try to do my best, to help my teammates,
to win games, and to win [the] Championship. But let’s
go step by step. It’s time for me to work.”
“It’s an amazing
feeling to be a part
of this great team,
organization, a
team with history…
It’s time for me
to work.”
