Darko Miličić

Darko Miličić

New York Knicks  – No. 31
Center/power forward
Born	June 20, 1985 (1985-06-20) (age 24) Novi Sad, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Listed height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight	275 lb (125 kg; 19.6 st)
League	NBA
Salary	$7,540,000[1]
Draft	2nd overall, 2003 Detroit Pistons
Pro career	2001–present
Former teams	Hemofarm (2001–2003) Detroit Pistons (2003–2006) Orlando Magic (2006-2007) Memphis Grizzlies (2007–2009)
Awards	2001 European Cadet Champion 2002 Under-20 World Champion 1x NBA Champion (2004)
Profile	Info Page

Darko Miličić (Serbian: Дарко Миличић; born June 20, 1985, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a member of the New York Knicks, the fourth NBA team for which he has played in his career. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. In the first 2½ seasons of his career playing for the Detroit Pistons, Miličić averaged 5.8 minutes and 1.6 points per game. In the 30 games he played during the 2005-06 season with the Orlando Magic, he averaged 20.9 minutes, 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.07 blocks per game.

Professional career

Detroit Pistons

Unlike most teams with high draft picks, the Pistons were a good team that made the Eastern Conference Finals the season before. They held the pick because of a trade that had been made with the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1996. During his time with the Pistons, Miličić won an NBA championship in 2004 but saw limited playing time.

Under coach Larry Brown (2003-2005), Miličić only played when the Pistons had an insurmountable lead late in the game. Pistons team president Joe Dumars repeatedly stated that Miličić would play a big part in the team's future^{[citation needed]}, but he did not see a large increase in playing time during his second season. Miličić has been quoted on numerous occasions as attributing his slow development on his lack of playing time; "I've said it 10,000 times, the best way for me to improve is to play. All the work in practice and individual workouts can only help me so much."^[2]

After Brown's departure, Flip Saunders was hired as head coach of the Pistons. It was expected that Miličić would see more playing time due to Saunders's track record of developing young players such as Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury. With Elden Campbell no longer on Detroit's roster and Dale Davis brought in as a mentor, most NBA experts believed^{[weasel words]} that Miličić would see considerably more minutes this season as the Pistons' full-time backup center behind Ben Wallace. While Miličić played well in the NBA's summer leagues and earned the praise of his teammates, little changed in the first half of the 2006 season. Under Saunders, Miličić still averaged only 5.6 minutes per game, and received significant playing time only in blowout wins or blowout losses for the Pistons. Miličić's lack of playing time in Detroit was frequently highlighted in publications like ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

Miličić became the youngest player to appear in an NBA Finals game (18 years and 356 days) when the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals.^[3]

Orlando Magic

On February 15, 2006, just prior to the NBA's All-Star break, Miličić was traded, along with point guard Carlos Arroyo, to the Orlando Magic for Kelvin Cato and a first-round pick in the 2007 NBA Draft (Rodney Stuckey).^[4]

During a game against the New York Knicks he played 32 minutes and finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. The 13 points and 32 minutes were season highs, and he led the Magic in minutes for that game. Miličić averaged 2.4 blocks per game in his first 20 games as a member of the Magic. In the 2006-07 playoffs, he increased his scoring by 4 points per game to 12.3 on 58.8% shooting.^[5] When his rookie contract expired offseason, Orlando GM Otis Smith did not sign the matching offer on the table, and so he became an unrestricted free agent.

Memphis Grizzlies

On July 12, 2007, the first day of free agency, Miličić was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies to a three-year, $21 million contract.^[6] Miličić hurt his Achilles tendon practicing with the Serbian national team in the 2008 offseason but was available to start at the beginning of the season. Miličić began the 2008-09 season starting at power forward but, due to poor play, was moved to the bench. Miličić regained his starting job as his play steadily improved in early December 2008. Miličić's progress was set back by an injury on December 26, 2008 against the Indiana Pacers when he broke a knuckle on his right hand during the game.^[7]

He was eventually replaced by Marc Gasol as a starter.

New York Knicks

On June 25, 2009, Miličić was traded to the New York Knicks for Quentin Richardson and cash considerations.^[8]

International career

In 2006, Miličić led Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Serbia and Montenegro had decided to replace their aging superstars, who had led the team to a gold medal finish in the previous 2002 FIBA World Championship, with young blood. Miličić led the team in rebounds (56) and blocked shots (17) and was second on the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and assists (11) through six games. In Serbia and Montenegro's sixth and final game against Spain, Miličić matched up against NBA All-Star Pau Gasol and finished with a very respectable 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

After a 68–67 overtime loss to Greece in the EuroBasket 2007 Miličić made vulgar remarks in his native tongue about the referees and their families in front of Serbian media.^[9][10] He got a heavy fine by FIBA and his outburst was heavily criticized by Memphis Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Marc Iavaroni.^[11]

Videogame appearance

• Milicic appeared in the videogame NBA Ballers along with fellow rookie classmates LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

Personal life

Miličić has stated that after his NBA career ends he will fulfill his obligation to military service in his native Serbia.^[12] His parents are Milorad and Zora. His sister Tijana is a volleyball player.^[13] On May 23 2009, he married his girlfriend of 3 years, Zorana Markus.^[14] The two had a son in the summer of 2009.^[15]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

• HoopsWorld GLOBAL Story, 03/26/2007
• NBA.com Profile
• ESPN.com Profile
• interview after Greece - Serbia 07/09/2007
• Freedarko.com NBA blog run by Sporting News contributor Bethlehem Shoals