A biography for Ivica Zubachasn’t been written yet.
“I got to prepare more for the games. I got to be ready for better players and starting lineups, just get a bit more focused, more prepared and got to be in better shape.”
“A bunch of fans have come up to me and they say, 'Why did we trade you? The Lakers front office did the biggest mistake.' Everyone's like, 'We miss you.'”
“I was taught to hate the Clippers, you know, since I was with the Lakers. So, I never liked the Clippers before. But since coming over here, it's been amazing.”
“Everyone wants to play in the fourth quarter, everyone wants to close the game. It's the most important time of the game, so being out there is great.”
“My first year everyone loved me. I was not getting that kind of love in my second year.”
“The only thing I can do is work hard and hope that they're gonna call my name.”
“When you meet Croatians somewhere abroad that's great. It feels like you are best friends.”
“I first started playing when we moved from my first house to a house that had a hoop out in front. Every day, I was in front of the basket shooting balls. The basket was regular height, and I was about 5 years old.”
“I gotta defend, I gotta protect the rim, I gotta rebound, I gotta set good picks for the guys, finish on offense, and I think that is not going to change much.”
“All of my shots are dunks or are around the rim.”
“I'm still working on my skyhook. I'm just waiting for a chance to use it.”
“My agent called me when we were talking before I came to the States. He told me we are going to select only three or four teams who are most interested, who are calling the most, asking for you, who are watching me the most in Europe and scouting me.”
“You start learning English in fifth grade. I was 12. But even before then I was listening to American music. My neighbor was a really big hip-hop fan, so he taught me everything around hip-hop.”
“I was hoping to workout with Kareem on a daily basis. After that first workout, I never got a chance.”
“I can do the Sky Hook, but I'm not confident with it.”
“Sometimes I go to the pool. With the pool, sometimes it's for recovery. I go with Joakim Noah because he's a big pool guy.”
“When I was like 19 1/2, people were like, 'He should go back to Europe.' People are impatient.”
“I was really mad until the 23rd pick and I wasn't selected and my agent told me, 'If nobody selects you, you're going to the Lakers.' So I was hoping to not go in the first round of the draft.”
“If someone told me a couple years ago, 'You're going to be deep into show jumping with horses,' I would be like, I didn't even know that's an Olympic sport.”
“Houses with courts and gyms are super expensive. Not a lot of players can afford that. I know it sounds crazy to say an NBA player can't afford that, but that's how it is in L.A.”