By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
From the Phoenix Suns to Houston Rockets, back to Phoenix, and to the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, and last March to the Milwaukee Bucks. Multiple moves around the NBA for Goran Dragic, including three trades.
Appearing as a guest on Thanalysis hosted by Bucks teammate Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the Slovenian guard recalled being traded from the Suns to the Rockets in 2011.
“We were flying out to Toronto, Canada,” he said, “The trade deadline was until 1 PM. Our plane took off at 12:30. I don’t know why they didn’t wait, you know, for those 30 minutes.”
“I was in the plane. We took off. I was sitting next to Steve Nash. And I took a nap. We touched ground and Steve woke me up. He said, ‘I’m sorry G, you got traded’. I was like, what? Basically, I just took my bag, go to the terminal and flew straight to Houston. From one plane to another plane, straight to Houston. And then the next day I was already playing against the New Jersey Nets,” the Dragon described the memorable situation.
And that was almost not it. A few months later, Dragic was nearly traded to the New Orleans Hornets but the three-team deal sending Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers was annulled by commissioner David Stern with the NBA then owning the Hornets.
“Imagine if that trade would go through,” Dragic wondered about moving to New Orleans instead of staying in Houston for the rest of the 2011-12 season, “My career would be completely different.”
Dragic, 36, also talked about playing alongside Nash, his relationship with Luka Doncic, winning the 2017 EuroBasket, French prodigy Victor Wembanyama, Europeans in the NBA, and more.
Goran Dragic on Thanalysis
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