By the end of an exhausting Saturday, Ivica Zubac was able to head home with a smile on his face after treating two sets of fans to his Los Angeles hook shot tour.
The rookie Laker became the 10th player to ever play in both the NBA and D-League in the same day, facing the Clippers in Downtown L.A. at 12:30 p.m. before heading south to El Segundo to help the Los Angeles D-Fenders to victory at 6:30 p.m.
“I just wanna get home and sleep,” Zubac said after the D-Fenders’ overtime victory against Canton. “This is a really long day for me, but if it were easy everybody would do it. It’s hard, but I gotta do what I do and what they ask me to do.”
Zubac had plenty of time to mentally prepare for the doubleheader, as he was told about it before the Lakers’ game in San Antonio on Thursday.
But that can only go so far when tasked with playing in two professional basketball games hours apart.
The 19-year-old woke up at 7:30 in the morning in order to try to be the first at Staples Center two hours later. He got in a pregame workout before the Lakers and Clippers tipped off, then — in the final minutes of his team’s loss — checked in and drained his trademark hook shot.
It was Zubac’s only shot in three minutes played, but the beauty of the swooping hook likely pleased Bill Bertka — Zubac’s mentor and the legendary Lakers coach who trained centers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal.
“He’s was probably watching the game somewhere and screaming as loud as he can,” Zubac said. “Every time he screams I think he’s gonna have a stroke.”
Zubac — who also made a series of hooks for the D-Fenders — had to gather himself at the thought of his 89-year-old coach’s antics before continuing.
“Every time I hit the skyhook, even in practice, he screams,” Zubac said. “Everybody can hear him. It can be scary.”
After the Clippers game, he went home to eat but there was no time for a pregame nap or an extended chat with D-Fenders head coach Coby Karl, who was one of the nine before Zubac to play in both leagues in one day.
“Your adrenaline is so high that it really doesn’t affect you,” Karl said. “Competition is what we live for as players.”
It certainly looked that way for Zubac, who excelled on both sides of the ball to finish the night with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
He was efficient — shooting 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 on free throws — while also clutch — grabbing an offensive rebound in the final minute and putting it in himself to tie the game at 111 and help force overtime.
“I think this was my best game for the D-Fenders,” Zubac said. “I was much better on the defensive end, guarding pick-and-rolls and everything.”
Karl was pleased with the entirety of Zubac’s performance and highlighted how he operated out of pick-and-rolls on offense, using soft hands and touch while finishing at the rim.
But, as Karl has pointed out throughout Zubac’s experience in the D-League, his development is more about the strides he can make defensively.
“There isn’t much I can’t do on offense,” Zubac said. “That’s the better part of my game. My offensive game was never the problem for me. Just defensive — and every day I’m working on improving my defense.”
And the Croatia native’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed by his D-League coach, who was happy with how he overcame the day’s fatigue.
“He said he was a little tired when he got here, but he played great,” D-Fenders head coach Coby Karl said. “He’s shown consistent improvement and I think we saw that tonight. He really helped us win this game tonight.”
As Zubac left the Lakers’ practice facility after his double session, a few of his D-League teammates shouted “Zuuuu!” on their way out.
For a team full of guys putting in their own work toward the NBA dream, they recognized how much it took for Zubac to get through that day with those results.
“It has to be a whirlwind for him, driving from Staples Center to back here to play with us,” said Vander Blue, who scored 40 points and the overtime game-winner. “Playing games at Staples, practicing with us, going back there — he’s showing unbelievable character and professionalism.
“The ceiling is still through the roof with him. I respect his game and his hustle.”