Croatian Luka Samanic of the San Antonio Spurs tells us his NBA Journey so far, from Europe to the NBA and the G League, what he’s learned so far and his determination to work hard and play a major role for the Spurs.
“I mean first feelings were – I was anxious and excited because that is the day that hopefully you know, somebody picks you and your dreams come true,” Samanic recalled the draft night. “But the thing for me was I just didn’t know where I was going to end up and I was hoping for the best, so…”
“You know I did all these workouts, I stayed in America for a while before the draft and everything. I was working out and I didn’t know where I was going to end up and I was lucky to be here, to be picked by San Antonio.”
According to Samanic, playing in Europe helped him prepare for the NBA. “Playing in Europe helps because you are playing against grown men at the early stage,” he said. “So, I think that was a side that helped. But also, when you play in Europe you get to play a lot and then coming here and then maybe not playing at first, I think that was the biggest thing I had to get adjusted to
” But you can learn from it a lot and I think the biggest thing for me was just keeping the right attitude the whole time and just work as hard as I can. Even though, let’s say, I am not playing, I think just the work is the most important thing, you know, it just keeps you ready and you just wait for whenever you are called up.”
