LOS ANGELES (USA) - Once upon a time, Ivica Zubac was viewed as a prospect that could help NBA teams with his size, skill and aggression.
No one was sold on the idea that would be a bona fide star, which is why the Los Angeles Lakers were able to select him 32nd overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Had teams looked into a crystal ball and seen what he would blossom into several years later, Zubac would have been among the first to be picked.
This season, his seventh with L.A. (Clippers and not the Lakers, who traded him to their crosstown rivals in 2019), Zubac ascended to the realm of superstardom and is now in the running for the Most Improved Player award.
After a dominant display for Croatia at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus, where he almost upstaged Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece as the event's MVP, the Clippers rewarded Zubac with a three–year, $58.6 million contract extension, and he made that look like a bargain while averaging 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
The Clippers went 50-32 in the regular season and finished fifth. Zubac is now trading blows in the low post with Denver's three-time league MVP and Serbia star Nikola Jokic in the 1st Round of the Playoffs.
Jokic knew he was going to be in a battle with the Croatian sensation because he said before the showdown: "He was kind of one-dimensional before. But now he can post up, he can pass from the pocket. He's really evolving his game. He's a really good defender...it's going to be a fun matchup."
Zubac had 21 points, 13 rebounds and a steal in a 112-110 overtime defeat in Game 1; 16 points, 12 rebounds and a steal in a 105-102 Game 2 win for LA; and in Game 3, "Zublocka" had 19 points, 9 rebounds and a block in a 117-83 blowout triumph for the Clippers.
FIBA