By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Bogdan Bogdanovic first year in the NBA has been pretty solid with the former Euroleague champion delivering some top-notch basketball material for the Sacramento Kings.
Bogdan will also play on Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge during the All-Star festivities. And, among other things, the Serbian player might get an opportunity to meet his “idol”: Kobe Bryant.
“I want to see Kobe Bryant,” Bogdanovic said to Sacramento Bee. “That was my idol. I followed him a lot. I want to see how he looks in person, what’s his size. I didn’t get a chance to play against him or watch him play live.”
Αll hoopers (and not only) also like to play video games such as 2K and Bogdan is among them. But the Serbian guard is one of the rare people that likes to play with Europeans, like Jusuf Nurkic and Clint Capela since he has a special approach to the game.
“They have two guards and a really good screener and roller with Nurkic and with Houston, Capela,” Bogdanovic said. “So I take (James) Harden with Houston, and it’s like real life.”
Rap music is a strong part the NBA culture. The new wave of trap rap or mumble rap is very popular among the new NBA players. But Bogdanovic is more old-school.
“I’m not really a fan of this new rap, trap, with the change of voices,” said Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic of what some call “mumble” rap. “I like the rhythm, I like the beat. The lyrics are stupid, but the beat is nice.”
Kings veteran guard Garrett Temple also explained to Sacramento Bee how highly he thinks of his teammate.
“He’s been around the game,” said Temple. “He understands when you can go out, have a good night out and when you need to chill. He has a personality that’s welcoming and everyone loves being around him.”
“On the plane, he listens to the music, he’s playing all the games, he’s gambling, stuff like that,” Temple said. “He’s really an American, an American basketball player, and it’s hilarious because he’s more toward the black culture than any other culture, which is great, great for us. He’s fit in great.”
Bogdanovic and Kings signed a three-year 27 million dollars deal this summer and the player admits he needed some help to manage this kind of salaries.
‘Just don’t be stupid that was advice from Zach Randolph, and George Hill ” Bogdanovic said. “Only if you do something really, really bad it can cost you to lose a lot of money.”
Bogdanovic’s representatives (Wasserman) have taken care of most financial matters, thus allowing the Serbian player to focus completely on basketball.
“It’s different, the lifestyle is different,” Bogdanovic said. “All of us have something going on. I think all us players, we have different teams, helping us a lot to stick to our plans, stick to our business, to be able to just think about the court, think about basketball. Because there’s so much stuff outside of the court that’s going on, that if you take care of it, and you care too much about it, it becomes really stressful.”
Kings head-coach Dave Joerger expressed his belief that Bogdanovic has a beneficial influence on the team.
“I think he brings a maturity to the locker room,” said Kings coach Dave Joerger. “And I think even other rookies look up to him in a way because he settles those guys down and helps guys see stuff, especially in video situations.”