PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - There are many similarities between Nikola Mirotic from Montenegro (naturalized in Spain) and Toni Kukoc from Croatia.

They are (were) both 6ft 10in (2.08m) all-around forwards who can shoot the three and spread the defense. They both played a couple extra years in Europe to mature their game before coming to the Chicago Bulls. The expectations concerning Toni were much higher because of years of hype building up to his arrival and two games played with Croatia against the Dream Team at the Barcelona Olympics including the Final where the Croatians stuck with Michael Jordan & Co for a half.

Nikola is much less well-known in the USA despite the fact that he has had almost as brilliant a career in Europe as Toni had. Kukoc won three Euroleagues with Split and lost a final against Limoges with Treviso.

Mirotic was the Spanish League MVP in 2013 and lost two Euroleague finals in a row with Real Madrid. He was tempted to stay another year in Madrid where he's lived comfortably since the age of 15 because he just became a father but USD $17 million over the next three years offered by Chicago was enough to convince him to buy out his contract with Real.

Kukoc said that when he came to the NBA, it was because he wanted to see just how good he really was. Nikola thinks he can grow more as a player in the NBA. He already grew a lot in Europe as he was selected the Euroleague's rising star TWICE and he dominated international FIBA youth competitions winning titles and MVP awards along the way.

One big difference between the two is that Kukoc was a fabulous international for Yugoslavia and then Croatia whereas Mirotic hasn't yet played for Spain because Serge Ibaka has occupied the one spot allotted to a naturalized player the last few years.

Kukoc arrived in Chicago the season after Jordan's first three-peat and retirement in a winning atmosphere and participated largely in Jordan's second three-peat, finally being accepted by Mike and Scottie Pippen as an integral part of their success. He was voted Sixth Man of the Year in 1996 and was great at filling holes inside or outside for Phil Jackson.

I always felt that he was a better player with Split before Chicago had him add all that muscle because the NBA in the 1990s was a physical affair!

In his early years, Toni was like Kevin Durant; tall, skinny, quick, tough and spectacular to watch. I saw him throw down one of the greatest dunks EVER at the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990.

Mirotic is a tad slower but physically stronger and both players are great at post-ups, dribbling and passing for their size. Nikola has a lot to learn according to his coach, Tom Thibodeau, who doesn't particularly like to play rookies but he might make an exception rapidly for Mirotic who stays after practice with Joakim Noah to put in extra work despite the three-hour long practices!

On Saturday, Mirotic scored 12 to go with 8 rebounds and hit two of five three-pointers in a one-point victory over Minnesota and Ricky Rubio. Those would be acceptable stats for his first season in the league if he gets enough playing time and those numbers are comparable to what Kukoc did early on in his NBA career.

Many things point to success for Nikola because he can learn the ropes in Spanish from new recruit, Pau Gasol, and learn about NBA intensity from Noah, the ultimate glue player for any team.

When he and his family get settled in, Toni will make himself available for discussion and advice since he's lived in Chicago for 21 years.

Another advantage is that Ivica Dukan, a former Yugoslav national team player and international scout for the Bulls since 1992 will help Nikola get acclimated to the franchise the same way he helped Toni in 1993.

If you want to go more into detail comparing these two exciting players, I recommend that you read a recent article on the website Grantland about the arrival of Mirotic in Chicago. Both men are humble champions who play(ed) for top-notch teams and who are really students of the game of basketball.

Will Nikola one day match Toni's three NBA titles? Only time will tell...

George Eddy

FIBA

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