{"id":120380,"date":"2026-05-11T18:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/nenad-krstic-reveals-what-shocked-him-most-about-nba-life-and-europes-rise-to-power-talkbasket-net\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T18:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:15:18","slug":"nenad-krstic-reveals-what-shocked-him-most-about-nba-life-and-europes-rise-to-power-talkbasket-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/nenad-krstic-reveals-what-shocked-him-most-about-nba-life-and-europes-rise-to-power-talkbasket-net\/","title":{"rendered":"Nenad Krstic reveals what shocked him most about NBA life and Europe\u2019s rise to power &#8211; TalkBasket.net"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nenad Krsti\u0107 Explains Serbia\u2019s Basketball Secret, EuroLeague Pressure &amp; NBA-Europe\u2019s Future\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q2EorK0LCeM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Former NBA center and Serbian basketball legend Nenad Krstic offered a wide-ranging look at his career, the growth of European basketball, and the changing NBA landscape during a recent appearance on the Fullcourt Passport podcast with Ric Bucher and Bostjan \u201cBoki\u201d Nachbar.<\/p>\n<p>Krstic, who played seven NBA seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics, said his transition from Serbia to the NBA in 2004 was overwhelming from the start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInitially, everything,\u201d Krstic said when asked about the biggest adjustment. \u201cThe language, the culture, the lifestyle, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are talking about 2004, 2005, and we didn\u2019t have WhatsApp, all the social media,\u201d he added. \u201cThe internet was different. So everything was different. But for me, the food was different, practice was different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former Serbian national team captain explained that having Balkan teammates around him eased the transition during his early NBA years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was really lucky to have some guys like Boki came after I think a year and a half, Zoran Planinic was on the team, so I had some guys to talk to in my native language,\u201d Krstic said. \u201cFor me it was much easier to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Krstic also credited his development at Partizan Belgrade for preparing him for the demands of the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Partizan we practiced a lot, we stayed after practice, we came before practice,\u201d he said. \u201cI was willing to practice a lot, I was willing to work hard, and that\u2019s something that really helped me when I was coming to the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 42-year-old admitted he never imagined international players would eventually dominate the NBA MVP race and championship picture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot really. When I was playing, no,\u201d Krstic said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even imagine to think that this kind of NBA basketball would be Jokic all over the years, Doncic and all the other non-American guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow they\u2019re running the NBA obviously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Krstic believes European basketball development systems have dramatically improved over the last two decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they adjusted the work ethic,\u201d he said. \u201cThey prepare young players for the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Serbian basketball pipeline, in particular, continues to stand out despite limited resources compared to larger basketball nations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe definitely love basketball,\u201d Krstic said. \u201cEven sometimes when we lose, I\u2019m saying when the national team loses, we still support them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing that young players just keep popping up everywhere,\u201d he continued. \u201cIn each corner of the country you find some great talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Krstic also acknowledged the challenges Serbian basketball still faces behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you see the logistics, when you see that we don\u2019t have great basketball courts, facilities, nothing really,\u201d he said. \u201cBut still, we have great talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former EuroLeague standout also discussed the growing number of Serbian prospects heading to American college basketball programs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously when I see the number of young players going to college basketball right now, it\u2019s amazing,\u201d Krstic said. \u201cI think we have like 100 plus now, and the number is going up each year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Toward the end of the interview, Krstic addressed the possibility of future NBA and EuroLeague cooperation, stressing that Europe may not be large enough to sustain competing systems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my opinion, Europe is too small for two leagues,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we need one league.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe top league, whatever you call it, two leagues like the NBA and the EuroLeague, I think it\u2019s not going to be good for basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.talkbasket.net\/218057-nenad-krstic-reveals-what-shocked-him-most-about-nba-life-and-europes-rise-to-power\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former NBA center and Serbian basketball legend Nenad Krstic offered a wide-ranging look at his career, the growth of European basketball, and the changing NBA landscape during a recent appearance on the Fullcourt Passport podcast with Ric Bucher and Bostjan \u201cBoki\u201d Nachbar. Krstic, who played seven NBA seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Oklahoma City [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}