Ivica Zubac has had a rocky tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers so far. The sophomore big man has went from unheralded rookie that almost no one knew on draft night, to fan favorite, to in and out of the rotation and fan’s hearts after a mostly-bad performance in Las Vegas Summer League that he’s reportedly using as motivation.
Zubac has looked a bit better to start the preseason, showcasing better defensive instincts and agility while playing a bit better offensively in limited minutes so far over the Lakers’ five games.
It remains to be seen whether or not Zubac will do enough in the preseason to fully seize the backup center spot in the rotation, or if Andrew Bogut and his veteran experience will beat him out, although it ultimately doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
How Zubac plays of course makes a difference for the Lakers’ future, but in the macro sense just by making it this far and getting to the Lakers he’s already won at life, especially given where he started. Zubac gave “Backstage Lakers” a look at the courts he began his career on, and when checking out the video it’s easy to see why he’s already a success story no matter where he goes from here, via the team’s official Twitter account:
#BackstageLakers takes you to @ivicazubac's hometown of Čitluk on tonight's all-new episode! Following postgame at 11pm on @SpectrumSN pic.twitter.com/MVYLBxcp0q
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 10, 2017
Zubac might be the Lakers’ center of the future, he might be a role player on their next title team, he might flame out entirely or he could end up on another roster. The end of his story hasn’t been written yet, but putting basketball to the side for a second, it’s pretty cool to see hard work pay off and allow someone to live out their dream.
You can watch the full episode of “Backstage Lakers” on Spectrum SportsNet or their website.