I thought, 'I'm going to play in Yugoslavia, then I'll go to play in Italy or Spain.' Then I'll be 28 or 29 and I'll try NBA. I never thought I can play in NBA because NBA was totally different world for us in Europe.
I knew I wasn't going to play for the NBA.
I kind of knew. I said, 'Yeah, I'm not going to be able to play in the NBA. That's just not going to happen. Let that dream go.'
Most people won't play basketball with NBA players, because you have to be in the NBA, but you don't have to be a pro to play against pro gamers. There's a chance they could load in and play the same game as them.
I knew who I was coming into the NBA, so I knew what I could contribute to a team, and I just had a high level of confidence in myself and what I could do.
It was even hard to imagine I was going to play in the NBA, because so many guys playing in Europe are not even getting to the Euroleague and everything. But everybody wants to play in the NBA. So when draft night came, it was a dream come true.
I don't play basketball for the money. I don't play it for the crowd. When I didn't have a friend, when I was lonely, I always knew I could grab that orange pill and go hoop. I could go and dunk on somebody. If things weren't going right, I could make a basket and feel better.
It was just like, "What am I going to do today, in L.A., as an actor? Well, I guess I could go to Seth's [Rogen] apartment and smoke weed and hang out." And that's all we'd do. We'd smoke weed, hang out, play video games, and talk.
I'm going to continue to see my friends who coach in the NBA and see my former players who play in the NBA. I'm going to continue to go to games.
I don't know if I could have made it as an NBA player. But I knew I could make it as a coach.
It's a luxury to play. I get to play basketball for a living. I'm a lucky guy and I'm thankful for everything I have and what I get to do. I realize how many people would give their left foot to just play one game in the NBA. This is the NBA!
I always knew I wanted to be in the NBA and play myself in a video game. That was my goal when I was a kid.
Even before I made my high school team, I'd say I want to be a NBA player, and people laughed at me with, 'Get out of here, you ain't going to be a NBA player. You don't even play basketball.'
I knew I could play well on the grass, but I really played so well today. I knew exactly what I had to play to beat her. I just did everything I could in the moment. I was very focused for every point. I knew that I had to go forward for every shot I was playing to push her back, and yeah, I did it.
Life is full of surprises. We've seen on the NBA court a lot of surprises. You never know what's going to happen if we play smart, if we play hard, if we play together.
I knew, hey, if I can become an elite shooter, I'll be able to play in the NBA for 10-12 years.