Darko Milicic was so out of shape before NBA Draft he wanted to stab a coach / News - Basketnews.com

Milicic said he was so out of breath during the first workout before the NBA draft he wanted to stab one of the coaches. Milicic didn't believe he would be drafted at all. Now, he says every opportunity was given to him, and he just didn't take it.

Credit: Brian Bahr/Getty Images Credit Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Darko Milicic is considered one of the biggest NBA draft busts in league history. More than 20 years after the initial moment, the former Serbian player remembered how he wasn't ready to be in the NBA.

Darko Milicic

Position:CAge:38Height:213 cmWeight:125 kgBirth place:Novi Sad, SerbiaProfileNewsStatistics

Milicic did only one workout session in Detroit before getting drafted. During the practice, the youngster was so out of shape that he struggled with regular activities and wanted to just end everything.

"I only did one martyrdom in Detroit, and I suffered. I couldn't breathe, it was chaos. Because of the guarantees, they say, 'You go enjoy it'. And I really enjoyed it, I really enjoyed it. I took it full throttle," he said in the Jao Mile podcast.

"I remember that workout, they carried me, they carried me. I couldn't breathe after dribbling through two half-courts. I'm still there, and I'm going down," Milicic said. "And they're beating me with those training pads. Brother, I wanted to stab him. 'Don't do it, brother, when I'm suffering like this.' And there was a little helper who was just waiting for you under the basket. Then they buried you with those pads. And I said, 'Look at this lunatic.' 'Don't do it, man, let me go.' I was struggling with myself like this, my soul was in the nose."

Having experienced the practice regimen of the highest level and suffered mightily through it, Milicic didn't think he would be even drafted, let alone picked in the top three.

"I thought, 'Look, these guys, no, they won't take me, they won't draft me.' After the practice, they say, 'You've got guarantees.' 'For what, brother?' 'You're the second pick,' he says (club representative). Those [second picks] are legends, those are the kings. I thought they wouldn't even draft me, not that they would give me a guarantee," the former 2nd overall pick said.

3-pointers this season

35%11,3Points made:11,3Accuracy:35,5%Place in standings:29Record max:21Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Alec BurksTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

"I shouldn't have been placed there, but I was fine where I was, and that's it."

Despite being guaranteed to be drafted second overall, Milicic still wasn't sure he would be picked by Detroit at no. 2.

"We were in the VIP section, and I just didn't care, you know, he's really going to call me, you know, because I really couldn't believe that he would guarantee me the second pick. How to say, I wasn't me for a single moment. Looking back, I really had traits to become something in that territory," he said.

"When I went there, I was full of confidence. I mean, I saw that they were really good guys. Obviously, I saw where they came from and what they did, they were good. I was full of confidence. I had no problem playing with anybody. However, only now when I look back, I switched off at one point, I literally switched off," Milicic recalled. "I don't know in what period it happened exactly, but I just switched off."

Now that his career is over and he can look back at everything that transpired, Milicic is certain - he was given the chances, he just didn't take advantage of them.

"I tell the kids - don't be crazy idiots at your dad. You know, they say how can you tell about yourself that you're an idiot, so I say, time will tell. You'll see and you'll find it out yourself, and you'll understand some circumstances and details. I mean, everything is given to you, you understand it, and you say - I won't. Here you come to me, don't be me. That's clear as day," he concluded.

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