"Every time he comes on the pitch, it's like he's going to fight someone, you know, I love that way of playing!" This is Kobe Bryant · Bryant is still in his playing days, and when he participated in a player interview, he couldn't help but sigh about his teammates Sasha · Vujacic. In addition, Phil · Jackson, who is very strict with the players, whenever a reporter asks about Vujasic, he does not hesitate to praise Vujasic. You must know that in the 10 years that Vujacic has played in the NBA, he has averaged only 5.3 points per game, but he has been highly praised by two legends. So, what is the magic behind him? Let's find out!
1. A sharpshooter from Europe, who was Taobao by the Lakers in a low order.
Born in Slovenia, Vujacic can be said to be Golan· Dragic, Luka· Doncic and other leaders who later shined in the NBA, like most European players, although Vujacic's physical fitness is not as good as those United States local guards, but his basic skills are very solid, he has been systematically trained since he was a child, and his tactical literacy and ball quotient are also quite good. Since then, he has been active in the Italy Bundesliga, under the influence of Italy basketball, Vujacic has developed a very good projection ability, plus in the 2002 European Championships, he helped Slovenia all the way to the final, although he failed to win the championship, but the runner-up results have also been recognized. So, in the 2004 NBA draft, 20-year-old Vujacic stood on the draft stage.
Unlike today's European players in the NBA, in the NBA 20 years ago, except for a few stars such as Dirk · Nowitzki and Peja · Stozjakovic, European players still had a lot of difficulties in gaining a foothold. Moreover, although Vujacic has a good shot, his ability in other aspects is really average, especially the lack of athleticism, which makes his draft prospects not high. Eventually, the Lakers used their first-round pick and 27th pick to bring Vujacic to Los Angeles. After completing the corresponding physical examination and training, he and the Lakers also officially reached an agreement, signing a four-year contract worth 4.49 million, which is already quite a good salary for a late show.
2. Although he is a perennial substitute, he is a Zen master's favorite general.
After entering the NBA, Vujacic quickly discovered the gap between himself and other players, his shooting ability is really good, but on the highest basketball stage in the world, there are more accurate people than himself. And because of his average physical fitness and lack of sufficient athleticism, it was difficult for him to maintain a high level of accuracy in training during the game, which led to his rookie season only getting 35 appearances, averaging only 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists per game, and a poor shooting rate of only 28.2%, which was also the epitome of many European players at the time, especially European guards, The NBA's fast pace and emphasis on individual ability made it difficult for them to adapt.
However, Vujacic did not get discouraged, on the contrary, he worked harder in private training, even if he had to face Kobe's relentless abuse every day, and constantly encountered his trash talk, he did not back down, but gave Kobe Bryant a more violent response, which also won the respect of the Lakers boss. With the return of Phil · Jackson in the 05-06 season, he immediately caught the eye on Vujacic and placed him as Kobe's first bench. Vujacic lived up to the trust of the Zen master and improved a lot in the second year, although his stats were still only 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists, but his efficiency improved a lot. By the 06-07 season, Vujacic had basically adapted to the rhythm and confrontation of the NBA, and in the limited playing time, although the score was still only 4.3 points, the three-point shooting rate had increased to 37.3%, which was close to the performance of a first-class shooter at that time.
In the 07-08 season, Vujacic played his most highlight season with the Lakers, although the positioning is still a substitute, and the playing time is only 17.8 minutes, but as long as Vujacic plays, he can immediately show an efficient performance, and he can get 8.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1 assist throughout the season, and the shooting and three-point shooting rates reached 45.4% and 43.7% respectively, helping the Lakers return to the first place in the West. And in the playoffs, he was still consistent, even scoring 20 points in Game 3 of the Finals. Therefore, although he failed to help the Lakers win the championship, with his outstanding performance this year, he completed a contract extension with the Lakers and got a new contract of 3 years and 15 million US dollars.
3. Become a champion and quickly fade out of sight.
There is a strange phenomenon in the NBA, that is, once a player gets a big contract, their performance will always decline at the beginning of the new contract period, and Vujacic has not escaped this law. In the 08-09 season, he was still Kobe's first bench, but his efficiency plummeted, shooting only 38.7% from the field, and he averaged only 5.8 points per game, and in the playoffs, his playing time was further compressed, but fortunately he won the championship with the Lakers this year, which is also the highest honor Vujacic has won in the NBA.
The next year, although he had a love affair with tennis star Sharapova, he was proud of his love, but due to the rise of Shannon · Brown, his playing time on the court was further compressed, and he could only play 8.6 minutes, basically playing in garbage time, and in the playoffs, he only got 10 appearances. However, it was in this year's playoffs that Vujacic ushered in the highlight moment of his life. In the tie-break of the Finals, in the final 11 seconds of the game, the Lakers led the Celtics by two points at 81-79 and had the ball. The Celtics executed foul tactics, and the Zen master unexpectedly sent Vujacic, who had only played five minutes in the game and did not score, and decided to let him execute the free throw. It was under such tremendous pressure that he steadily made 2 free throws of gold to help the Lakers seal the victory and complete the title defense.
However, this is the last highlight of Vujasic, due to the continued sluggish performance, the Lakers sent him to the Nets, at that time the Nets in the 10-11 season infinitely rotten, Vujacic also got a lot of opportunities, averaging a career-high 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, but the efficiency was not high, plus the NBA shutdown that year, Vujacic also bid farewell to the NBA stage and returned to the European league he was familiar with. It seems that leaving the Lakers has cost him good fortune, and although he has since returned to the NBA, he has failed to show the performance he once performed with the Lakers. In addition, he and Sava were engaged for a time, but soon broke up. After playing 42 games for the Knicks in the 16-17 season, he left the NBA at the age of 33, and now Voujacic has long since retired and is comfortably enjoying his retirement.