Donatas Urbonas: Nikola Mirotic officially named 2021-22 EuroLeague MVP.
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Nikola Mirotic
Position: -
Born: 02/11/91
Height: 6-10 / 2.08
Weight:236 lbs. / 107 kg.
Earnings: $41,631,175 ($50,407,069*)
Born: 02/11/91
Height: 6-10 / 2.08
Weight:236 lbs. / 107 kg.
Earnings: $41,631,175 ($50,407,069*)
Nikola Mirotic: I had kind of a personal crisis
“When I was in the United States, I felt far away even from my family. I took my job seriously and I forgot a bit about my family. I stopped enjoying the court,” he said. “I wanted to be as I used to be as a child. I wished to spend time with my children, in the church… Yes, I had kind of a personal crisis. You need to transform yourself on the court, be competitive… And I am not totally like that, so it has not always been easy”, Mirotic continued.
This is why Mirotic decided to return to Europe in the summer of 2019. “My family was my first priority. I wanted my children to grow up here in Europe. We discussed a lot with my wife. It was the first time I put my family over my career”, he confessed.
One of the most productive players in the EuroLeague remembered how his own dad put much more pressure on him than some of the coaches he has had. “People who are not professional in sport usually do not understand what kind of life we have. I have always had pressure during my life. When I was at Palencia on loan, my dad put much more pressure on me rather than my coach. If I had played a bad game, I could not stop thinking about how he would punish me,” explained Nikola.
The highest-paid EuroLeague player wears Barcelona jersey. Nikola Mirotic keeps the most significant contract in Europe, around €5M net per season, sources say BasketNews.
It’s been a few years already since you came back from the NBA. Is there anything you are missing from those years? Nikola Mirotic: I would say I only miss playing against the best, those superstars like Durant, Harden, Steph, Giannis… It’s something unforgettable. Playing against LeBron… just amazing. Thinking that I also played with some of them like Anthony Davis, Giannis himself, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose… An amazing experience. You always want to play against these guys but apart from that, I don’t miss the NBA.
Still, the bottom line is simple: Nikola Mirotic remains the highest-paid player in Europe and that’s not going to change anytime soon and EuroLeague champion and MVP Vasilije Micic is the only really big winner of this summer with a contract that very few had in the history of European basketball. 1. Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona $4,5 M. The exact numbers of Mirotic’s contract remain a riddle and even $4,5 M can be pretty tame considering the rumors about the initial deal between the player and FC Barcelona. However, we are already in the third year of the contract and Barcelona is in total debt of more than one billion euros.
