featured-image

Vucevic Honored to Represent Magic in Africa

Dan Savage
Director of Digital News

By John Denton

July 30, 2015

ORLANDO – Born in Switzerland, raised in Belgium and his native Montenegro, prepped for the NBA in the United States and now in Africa for a promotional game, Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic marvels at how the game of basketball has allowed him to see the world.

For good measure, Vucevic is also headed to Brazil and England in the coming months when the Magic play preseason and regular season games in South America and Europe. Vucevic is awed by how basketball – whether it was with his father, Borislav, who played professionally in Europe for 24 seasons and now with his own NBA career – has taken him to several exotic locales around the world.

``I’ve been lucky to be able to travel so much through basketball,’’ Vucevic said on Thursday via a conference call from Johannesburg, South Africa. ``There are so many places where I would have never had the free time to go and see that I’ve gotten to see because of basketball. I’ve been very lucky. Basketball has given me everything in my life. It’s just good that I’ve been able to travel around the world and meet people who want to see you and interact with you. That’s a great part of being a professional athlete. I’m looking forward to Saturday and then Brazil and London because I haven’t been there either. So it will be a great year of traveling for me.’’

Vucevic, who led the Magic in scoring (a career-best 19.3 ppg.) and rebounding (10.9 rpg.) last season, arrived in South Africa earlier this week to take part in the NBA’s first-ever game in Africa on Saturday. Vucevic, who will play for the ``World’’ squad, will be joined by all-star guard Chris Paul (Clippers), brothers Pau (Bulls) and Marc Gasol (Grizzlies), Bradley Beal (Wizards), Kenneth Faried (Nuggets), Jeff Green (Grizzlies), Evan Turner (Celtics) and others. Players with ties to the home country, such as Boris Diaw (Spurs), Luol Deng (Heat), Serge Ibaka (Thunder), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Nicolas Batum (Hornets), Festus Ezeli (Warriors) and others, will play for ``Team Africa.’’ NBA coaches Gregg Popovich (Spurs) and Mike Budenholzer (Hawks) will be coaching the two teams.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said on Thursday that he could envision a time when a regular-season NBA game is played in Africa, is also on the trip. NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of Congo) and NBA Africa Ambassador Hakeem Oladjuwon (Nigeria) are also a part of the historic first game in the country.

As for Vucevic, he said he was flattered that he was asked to play in Africa’s first NBA game. This week, he’s taken part in several Basketball Without Borders camps for children and he’s excited to play in Saturday’s game, which will be televised in the United States by ESPN at 9 a.m. ET. The game sold out in less than an hour in Africa and Vucevic said it’s refreshing to see how happy the people are there for the NBA’s presence in Africa.

``In the camp that the NBA set up where we were working with the kids, that was a lot of fun,’’ said Vucevic, who played small forward in a scrimmage with other NBA players on Thursday. ``It’s all been positive and the people here have been great. The people of South Africa gave us a warm welcome and you could see that everything that the NBA is doing really means a lot to them. The kids have been great, they ask a lot of questions and they’re happy to see us and work with us. So it’s been a great experience.

``It’s an honor for me to be chosen to play in the first NBA game in Africa,’’ Vucevic continued. ``It’s great to be around these other players, coaches and executives from our league. I’m trying to do the best that I can for myself, the Orlando Magic and my country. It really means a lot to me and I was looking forward to this a long time.’’

Vucevic has long admired the Gasol brothers – Pau during his rise to stardom in Spain and later in the NBA with the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls; and Marc for his sheer strength and impeccable footwork in the low post. The gasol brothers didn’t arrive in Africa until Thursday, and Vucevic is hoping that he can use Friday’s practice and Saturday’s game to pick their brains for tips that he can use next season.

Vucevic is also eager to get in a workout with Olajuwon, a Hall of Famer as a player and a two-time champion with the Houston Rockets. Oladjuwon is considered one of the best centers to ever play the game because of his nimble feet and array of low-post ball fakes. Vucevic has already spent time this week talking to Oladjuwon and he hopes to get some on-court time with the big man guru.

``I saw Hakeem Olajuwon and I talked to him a little bit,’’ said Vucevic, who had 45-double-doubles (fifth in the NBA) last season with the Magic. ``If I get a chance maybe I can do a workout with him before we leave so that I can learn some of the moves that he had. That would help my game out.’’

Vucevic’s Magic will face South American powerhouse Flamengo in an exhibition game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Oct. 17. Then, on Jan. 14, the Magic will take on the Toronto Raptors at London’s O2 Arena – their first regular-season action outside of North America since Nov. 9, 1996 in Tokyo.

Vucevic grew up in Europe watching NBA stars such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki and hopeful he too would someday play basketball at the highest level. Vucevic is all in favor of the NBA continuing to spread its influence around the globe by playing regular-season and preseason games abroad – even in locales as far away as South Africa.

``I think it’s a good idea to spread the NBA game all over the world,’’ said Vucevic, who left his native Montenegro at age 17 to attend high school and later college in the United States. ``The travelling won’t be too easy, but I think players would be willing to do it because it’s a great experience to come here (to Africa). It gives a chance to people who might never get a chance to watch a NBA game live to have it in their own country. So I think it’s a good idea. We’ll have games in Europe and South America, so it will be just spreading the game further (in Africa) and that’s great.’’

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.