There are several productive players in the NBA right now who grew up in the small European country of Serbia. Bogdan Bogdanovic might be one of the more underrated scorers in the league; Nikola Jovic has given the Miami Heat solid minutes so far in his third season in the pros; and Nikola Jokic is a nightly triple-double threat.
Additionally, a number of Serbian-born folks previously carved out great careers in the league. Vlade Divac was a formidable starting center for the Sacramento Kings at the zenith of his NBA tenure and has earned a spot in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick thinks very highly of the way in which Serbian coaches operate and hopes to have his sons participate in a basketball camp in the country when they get older.
“You know who I just know — I’m thinking stream of consciousness,” Windhorst began. “I know that J.J. Redick — maybe not one of your first four copies — but whenever the Nuggets play the Lakers, you should give a copy to J.J., because J.J. is an incredible admirer of Serbian coaching. And I think he’s even said on his podcast — I hope he said this on his podcast and didn’t say it to me, and I hope I’m not getting aggregated again because it happens every five minutes right now — I think he said he wanted to send his — when his boys are older, he wants to send them to Serbia in the summer to go to basketball camp because he just admires so much about the way the Serbians coach their players.”
Redick has proven himself to be quite the head coach so far in his first season leading the Lakers from the sidelines. The team owns the fourth-best record in the Western Conference at 9-4, and its five-game winning streak is tied with the Houston Rockets for the longest active streak in the conference at the moment.
The 40-year-old has also done a commendable job of navigating the ups and downs that are inherent with an NBA campaign. There was seemingly reason for concern after the Lakers had a rough road trip from late October through early November.
After all, Los Angeles finished the five-game trip at 1-4 and was back at the .500 mark at 4-4 at the end of the trip after starting out the season 3-0. The Lakers’ only win in that span came against a Toronto Raptors team that has the worst record in the NBA right now at 2-12.
But ever since the team’s road trip came to an end, the Lakers have looked dominant in part because of the play of big man Anthony Davis. Davis has accounted for 71 points and 26 rebounds in the Lakers’ last two wins, which came against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs.
