Nikola Mirotic explains why NBA playoffs are the pinnacle of world basketball

Nikola Mirotic played five years in the NBA with three different teams, but since 2019 he’s been back in Europe. Even though he admitted how his first months playing basketball in Chicago were not easy, he eventually got the hang of the culture and started to succeed with the Bulls. 

The Montenegrin athlete, who played all 82 games and averaged 10.2 points per game in his first season in Illinois, recently went on the SKWEEK’s Best In Class podcast and talked about the challenges he first faced. “Speed, physicality, trash talk,” he started out.

“Oh, I hated trash talk. I couldn’t get used to that for a long time. During the practice and in the game, there was so much trash talk that I was actually taking it personally.”

Nikola Mirotic tells why he hated trash-talking in NBA and which EuroLeague team he wanted to join when he returned to Europe 👀

He also explains why NBA Playoffs are the pinnacle of basketball and what he misses from the NBA, telling Rajon Rondo story:https://t.co/AaFbOWDBzn

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) January 8, 2025

Mirotic went on to explain how his teammates would exchange heated words during training sessions and then would act as if nothing happened. “Like my teammates were talking real trash, and after the practice, they were shaking hands, hugging me. I was like, ‘What is this? We just fought at the practice, and now you’re shaking hands with me? Come on,'” he recalled.

Even though he openly said he prefers European basketball than the one practiced in the United Sates, he did guarantee that the NBA playoffs are the pinnacle of the sport. “Playoffs. There is nothing like NBA playoffs,” Nikola stated.

Despite the fact that in the NBA many games don’t mean much, as the regular season are too long, the player admitted that he missed the intensity he felt in the postseason. “People talk a lot about the NBA, about a regular season, how they take it seriously or not, the way they play, no pressure.

“But once playoffs come, it’s a different story. It’s a different mindset,” added Mirotic, who after four years in Chicago was traded out to New Orleans, where he only played 62 games in two campaigns. The veteran then landed in Milwaukee for a short stint before returning back to European basketball.

Mirotic compared the NBA’s low pressure with the intensity felt in every game played in EuroLeague

With time, the 33-year-old has learned to appreciate both competitions, although he’s convinced that a certain amount of pressure is necessary to perform at your best. When asked if he enjoyed the low intensity of NBA regular-season games, he was brutally honest.

“At the beginning, I didn’t. And all the time I was there, I didn’t. But after coming back to Europe and experiencing this pressure, I’m like, ‘Oh, sometimes that low pressure that you have is good,'” Nikola responded.

Mirotic thinks pressure is important. “For me, yes. I think the pressure I’ve been having since I was young, it’s something that really pushed me,” he assured. “I had to prove myself every day so that I could be better and better. I think, especially in European basketball, it’s always gonna be that pressure.”

He then added: “I was lucky to always be in the big clubs: Madrid, Barcelona, and Armani. They always have pressure. I think that pressure always keeps you tight, keeps you that you have to perform well. There is no excuse, that’s why you’re here, and I really like it. I think it’s much needed, but don’t go too much.”