MIES (Switzerland) - Toni Kukoc gave the basketball world countless amazing memories over his storied career across the globe. But one day in northern Italy in 1987, he shocked even himself by hitting 11 of 12 three-pointers.
Bormio was home to the 1987 FIBA World Championship for Junior Men. And that tournament will forever be remembered as having the Dream Team before the Dream Team.
Long before becoming the legend he is today, Svetislav Pesic gathered a junior Yugoslavia team that featured not only Kukoc but also future Hall of Famers Dino Radja and Vlade Divac as well as Aleksandar Djordjevic.
Those four were so talented that Yugoslav senior national team head coach Kresimir Cosic called the quartet into his team later in the summer to play in the FIBA EuroBasket 1987, where the Balkan side grabbed the bronze medal despite having four teenagers.
But returning to Bormio, Kukoc and co. rolled through the competition, averaging 108.9 points while winning games by an average of 27.6 points. Yugoslavia twice beat USA - 110-95 in the group stage and then 86-76 in the Final.
This was a USA team highlighted by Larry Johnson, Gary Payton, Stacey Augmon, Kevin Pritchard, Lionel Simmons and Scott Williams among others and coached by Larry Brown. But the Americans had no answer for the long, lanky 18-year-old baby faced killer from Split, who would later be nicknamed the "Croatian Sensation".
On August 1, 1987, Yugoslavia were facing USA with essentially first place in Group A on the line as both teams were 3-0. The three-point line had only been introduced in FIBA play in 1984, and Toni Kukoc took full advantage of it three years later in Bormio.
He hit his first long range attempt from the left wing to make it 5-5. He followed that with a jumper in the lane for a 14-8 lead. Just like after his first three, Kukoc raised his left first after hitting his second triple - from the top of the key after a kickout for a 20-17 lead after about 8 minutes of the first half.
Yugoslavia's next three scores were Kukoc three-pointers - from the right wing, a transition three guys like Steph Curry and co. would take today, and a catch-and-shoot long ball after racing from the right side to the other side - and the Europeans were up 29-23.
Kukoc added two foul shots as Yugoslavia were up 31-25 and that was his output in the first half, ending with the Yugoslavs in front 52-42.
After going 5 of 5 from long range in the first half, Kukoc was off target on his first attempt in the second half from the top of the key.
He didn't get number six until after about 8 minutes, a triple in transition from the left corner to make it 72-53. He followed that with his seventh on the next possession with a stop-and-pop triple to result in a USA timeout down 75-55.
No. 8 came a short time later, hitting from the left side before the Americans could set up their transition defense for an 80-59 cushion.
Kukoc got out on the break a bit later but missed a layup attempt. He retreated behind the line again and hit his ninth three-pointer at the top of the key. Once again he hoisted the left fist after making it 87-65 with 8 minutes to go. Triple number 10 was quite contested but Kukoc drained it from the left wing as Yugoslavia were closing in on the victory, ahead 97-65.
And Kukoc knocked down his 11th three-pointer on a quick release catch-and-shoot from the left wing to lead 102-79.
Coach Pesic called it a day for Kukoc with his team leading 103-84 with 3 minutes to play. Kukoc returned to the bench and received a real welcome from his teammates, swishing at his hair, patting him on the back and giving him hugs.
Kukoc's day was done and history had been written - and has never been matched since then.
"Never, ever, in my career would I get even close to those numbers," Kukoc recalled in Kos Magazin. "The high for me in a game for triples was five or six, but that day everything was going in. I felt extremely comfortable. When my first two shots went in, I had my confidence up and I didn't stop until the end. I was shooting over my defenders, even stopping at the arc on fastbreaks. We had a great team, well-covered in all positions, but not even we ourselves knew what the limit was for us. We had no idea what levels we could reach."
Kukoc would go on to win the Most Valuable Player award for the title-winning Yugoslavians. And while his career was highlighted by the 1990 FIBA Basketball World Cup title, silver at the 1988 Olympics, two FIBA EuroBasket crowns and three NBA championships, Kukoc's amazing performance in Bormio against USA will never be forgotten.
FIBA