Just minutes after signing a multi-year contract with the Bucks, Damir Markota sat down with Bucks.com for a brief Q&A session. We asked him about his summer plans, his game, his hobbies and his inspirations.

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So what have you been up to this summer?
I came here and stayed a month ago. I did the NBA Draft, workouts and Milwaukee picked me up from the draft. After the draft I came here for one week. We weren’t sure if my Croatian team would [let the Milwaukee Bucks] buy out [my contract] because I was at home working out with the National Team. Then maybe one week ago, I got a call from Milwaukee. I was happy. It’s a great place to work out and I have a couple friends here – Andrew Bogut, Toni Kukoc, Jiri Welsch. I came here today to sign my contract and I have to go back to my country to play with my national team.

When will the championships begin?
Now I have the European Championships with the national team and this year we will have qualifications in October. Now we’re preparing and working out. When I’m done with that, I will come back.

How well do you think your National Team will do?
We’re always in the top five, so it depends. It’s not going to be like last summer where we lost in the last couple seconds. We’re going to be in the top five for sure.

How does it feel to finally be in the NBA?
I didn’t think about it as much. When I stayed here, I thought I would see how big the league is, but in November, I will see how big this is.

What are you hoping to learn about the league?
I just want to come back here and see how it is. I’m just grateful to start [my career in the league] ... see the players ... see if I’m too much behind ... can I play with them ... what do I have to work on. Things like that are what I want to see.

What’s next now that you’ve signed the contract?
Now that I’ve signed the contract, I just want to prepare and get ready for the season – see if it’s possible to play. It’s a big thing to play in the biggest league in the world, and with the best players. That’s a big thing.

Have you felt any pressures to change yourself?
I will always be cool and normal – I will always be who I am.

What do you like to do off the hardwood?
I like to play soccer. It’s my favorite sport, but I’m a little bit too tall to play soccer so I play with a basketball. I like to chill out with friends, movies, and things like that.

What do you think of your home team’s performance in the World Cup?
They lost in the quarterfinals. They were good. It was war with Yugoslavia in my country, so my country, Croatia, hadn’t been for 15 or 16 years. We have sports and a lot of good players. We have 5 or 6 NBA players. It’s getting better.

What’s your favorite type of music?
I listen to everything. I like hip-hop, R&B, my Croatian music – techno and things like that.

What’s your favorite color and why? Dark Blue because of my favorite soccer player and team.

Who has been a big influence in your life? My mother. This [signing of contract] makes me happy. I made it because of her. Now I can give her some other options if she doesn’t want to work like she did before. Maybe she will come over [to the United States] with me. That’s why I’m happy. I made it because of my mother. She is really happy about that.

How did your mother react when she found out?
She didn’t care much about the money. Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to play in this league and my favorite player was always Toni Kukoc. Now that I’m playing on the same team as Toni Kukoc – we don’t know if he’ll stay or not – but it’s the same league as Toni Kukoc. It’s my mother, so she’ll be happy.

Any advice you’d offer to young people that would like to play in the NBA?
Work, work, work.

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