By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
Retired player and current Bosnian Federation president Mirza Teletovic said that he found his six-year NBA experience to be “boring”, especially in comparison with the time he spent playing with Baskonia in EuroLeague and the Spanish ACB League.
“When I went to the NBA, my opinion is that it was very boring,” Teletovic said in an interview with Radio Vitoria. “If you weren’t playing for Golden State or the Cleveland Cavaliers, which are competing to be champions… why should I be there? In Vitoria (with Baskonia) you were always competing for something. The Supercopa, the Copa Del Rey, to enter the EuroLeague Final Four. In the United States… what?”
Teletovic, a two-time (2008, 2010) ACB and three-time (2006, 2007, 2008) Supercopa champion, played three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets from 2012 to 2015 before joining the Phoenix Suns for 2015-2016. He then spent two years with the Milwaukee Bucks before announcing his retirement in 2018, at 33 years of age, after playing 343 games in the NBA.
“For me, it was boring. It was a good experience too. It’s the best league in the world. You can play against the best in the world and be coached by legends. But for me, I had a better feeling playing in EuroLeague and in Spain,” Teletovic added.
Teletovic, who played in EuroLeague with Baskonia from 2006 to 2012 before moving to the NBA, was also asked to comment on Nikola Mirotic’s stunning decision to return to Europe by signing with Barcelona.
“There will be more and more players who will come back,” Teletovic mentioned. “I don’t understand how young people decide to go because you know that the first three years you will stay on the bench or in the G League.
“The EuroLeague was tougher before. You had to go to Athens and there were 250 policemen protecting you,” Teletovic also said.