By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Mirotic is spending his third season in the NBA and so far his experience with the Chicago Bulls is ideal enough to draw away all possible thoughts of returning to Europe.
“I love the Bulls,” he said in an interview for the Chicago Tribune. “I love my teammates. I love the city. It’s the perfect place for me. The first idea is to re-sign.”
“I’m where I am right now because I deserve to be here. I worked very hard to be here,” he added. “This is just one part of my career in the NBA.”
The 25-year-old forward arrived in Chicago in 2014 after some impressive seasons in EuroLeague and Spanish League with Real Madrid. While he has fond memories of those days, there’s no question about the priority he sets for his future career.
“Real Madrid is one of the best teams in Europe and in basketball. I had a great time playing there, great memories. I won championships there. I know the fans want me back there. But my first idea is the NBA.”
Mirotic also evaluated how he has fared so far in the best league of the planet. “I’ve had some up and downs. Nobody said it was going to easy. My rookie year, I think was good. I played on a big (winning) team with a very tough coach (Tom Thibodeau) with whom I improved a lot. Now, second and third year it has been hard. But I’m here and I want to be here. I want to keep improving.”
“The level (of play) is higher. Individually, it depends on what each player wants. There are players who just want to come here even if they don’t play. They just want to live in the experience and travel with the teams, to have fun. There are players who have come here and done everything in their power to fight for what they deserve.”
Since he likes difficult tasks he insists on trying to learn…. Greek! Yep, true story. And he won’t stop until he mastered the language. “I don’t like to leave unfinished business,” he explained.