Toni Kukoc misunderstood?

VAN CRO · Jul 26, 2008

Hey guys I know it's a football forum but Im an old schooler on this forum and I remember us all having opinions on the guy and I was one of them spewing the most venom on him calling him a Yugo and was angry he went to Divac's retirement thing etc and hearing Chicago Cro's say he's garbage but here is the links on him on a Croatian program addressing everything in a no holds barred interview. If you dont have time to watch all watch from part 3 and please leave comments.

I especially wanna hear from Ero, Jure M and Ljubuski!

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vubNzHH4hZI&feature=related

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTAyHihB18c&feature=related

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kIMrYf9Ld0&feature=related

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBRmkEHhWc&feature=related

Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jxS3O6S-TU&feature=related

Part 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgOYG_UnFo0&feature=related

Part 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oSDspl1tU&feature=related

ForzaFiume · Jul 27, 2008

can someone give me a brief summary of what he's saying....

Ero · Jul 27, 2008

I've seen this interview on NU2 with Stankovic, Kukoc was understood just fine.

Licki Macak · Jul 27, 2008

I remember when the world championship were played in Toronto and we invited a few of the players to one of our picnics at Streetsville and Toni said that he wanted nothing to do with our Ustaski park or us. So now if he has a change of heart.....he can go phuck himself!

saraj123 · Jul 27, 2008

Great player and great guy

petro · Jul 27, 2008

Licki... What proof do you have that he said that... other than heresay!

Many of the Croatian folks were up in arms because he didn't make his way to them.

The guy was here to compete... not make folks in Mississauga, Oakville, Hamilton happy.

I heard similar sh1t about his turning down an appearance to Croatian church in Hamilton.

People make up sh1t when they don't get their way.

spidey · Jul 27, 2008

petro said:
Licki... What proof do you have that he said that... other than heresay!

Many of the Croatian folks were up in arms because he didn't make his way to them.

The guy was here to compete... not make folks in Mississauga, Oakville, Hamilton happy.

I heard similar sh1t about his turning down an appearance to Croatian church in Hamilton.

People make up sh1t when they don't get their way.

lol here we go again with the proof..there is alot of he said she said about toni..for me personally i lost alot of respect for him when he went to divac retirement party thing in serbia a few months ago..

Opsajd · Jul 27, 2008

As Eric Burdon would say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsru-M79EvM&feature=related

petro · Jul 27, 2008

Yes... here we go again. Sort of. :smileani:

IMO... it is much easier to lose respect for somebody you don't know personally ... because you are not privy to that person's true thoughts... thus it is easy to disengage.

In this situation... I chose to take away the political climate, the deep and many emotions between Croats and Serbs, and I looked at it from a total human perspective... i.e. two guys grow up together and develop a strong bond via basketball. They battled together on the hardcourt, they shared many meals and rooms together, they got to know each others families, they partied together... and suddenly they are supposed to be enemy's???

Everybody would deal with this in their own way. Petrovic chose one way, the popular way... Toni chose what was in his heart... and not the so popular way.

Took a lot of courage for Toni to follow his heart... and not the wave of the Croatian masse.

It was Toni's choice to honour Vlade's retirement... It was your choice is to lose respect for Toni for doing that... and it is my choice not to pre-judge and buy into all the political bullsh1t and let Toni be his own person.

Nobody is right... nobody is wrong!

Opsajd · Jul 27, 2008

I don't see any proof here either Petro except for a whole lot of insinuations and misrepresentaion..nice story :lick:

Ero · Jul 27, 2008

Look, I don't know the guy personally. We all only know what we read in papers about famous people, and compile our own opinions based on that.

Kuki lacked a lot of personality on the court, and off it it seems.

OAnimal · Jul 27, 2008

Anyway, a great player he was. That's what we all know.

FootyFan365 · Jul 27, 2008

spidey said:
lol here we go again with the proof..there is alot of he said she said about toni..for me personally i lost alot of respect for him when he went to divac retirement party thing in serbia a few months ago..

Dude, that's so shallow :howler::howler:

petro said:
Yes... here we go again. Sort of. :smileani:

IMO... it is much easier to lose respect for somebody you don't know personally ... because you are not privy to that person's true thoughts... thus it is easy to disengage.

In this situation... I chose to take away the political climate, the deep and many emotions between Croats and Serbs, and I looked at it from a total human perspective... i.e. two guys grow up together and develop a strong bond via basketball. They battled together on the hardcourt, they shared many meals and rooms together, they got to know each others families, they partied together... and suddenly they are supposed to be enemy's???

Everybody would deal with this in their own way. Petrovic chose one way, the popular way... Toni chose what was in his heart... and not the so popular way.

Took a lot of courage for Toni to follow his heart... and not the wave of the Croatian masse.

It was Toni's choice to honour Vlade's retirement... It was your choice is to lose respect for Toni for doing that... and it is my choice not to pre-judge and buy into all the political bullsh1t and let Toni be his own person.

Nobody is right... nobody is wrong!

Well said :thumbsup:

petro · Jul 27, 2008

Ero... curious to see what you exactly mean by "Kuki lacked a lot of personality on the court".

Can you elaborate for moi? :smileani:

Ero · Jul 28, 2008

Well he was never a leader, not even post Pippen-Jordan season with the Bulls where he was expected to take the ropes.

Skill wise and physically he could have been an all-star athlete, he is 6'11" with superb ball handling, vision, range... but never asserted himself. He would have a 32 pint game, followed by a 3 point game, a 7 point game, a 6 point game then 25. Inconsistant.

He just could have been so much more if he applied himself, had confidence all the time not just when he was hot, played better defense (ask Mike or Scottie) and asserted himself as a character.

He just always lacked that drive, desire, I call it heart. On the court.

Contrast that to Drazen Petrovic, and you'll know what I mean. Heck, contrast it to Marko Popovic or any of the current squad who seem to want it more. Let's not talk about other sports and the likes of Ivano Balic, Goran, Boban or our other great athletes who share certain characteristics which I consider a certain Croatian sports mentality.

That's why I would never put Kuki's name among the greats.

And let's not even compare Petro's compassion and love for our homeland with that of Kukoc, who even in 1993/4 steered away from promoting the Croatian cause. If he felt any sort of pride, sympathy for the victims of aggression or our grieving mothers, a person in his situation could have done more at least in the war years. I don't know if he gave money, I think he did, but an interview or two to raise awareness would have done good.

I know sportspeople should really stay away from politics, and I appreciate that.

Also the fact that a multi-millionaire doesn't want to return home to live, kinda get's me thinking...

well, that's why I said he lacks heart. I have been wrong before tho

Manijak · Jul 28, 2008

I think one of his downfalls is that he was slow. Not the most mobile. So I think the inconsistency stemmed from what type of style the other team played.

FootyFan365 · Jul 28, 2008

What? Of course Kukoc wasn't one of the greats! But trust me, as a Pacers fan, I know damn well of Kukoc's qualities and importance to the Bulls. There is no denying he was one of the more intelligent players in the league. He knew how to score and he was smart, definitely not quick and athletic which hurt him on the defensive end most the time, but he was always on the same page with Jordan/Pippen/Kerr.

I think I just don't know the story, and what he's talking about in the video. Cause for some of the biggest Croatian fans not to acknowledge Kukoc as top 3 to 5 of Croatia's best players, he must have done something more then just attend Vlade's retirement party.

HajdukSplit · Jul 28, 2008

I read once Jordan actually got in his face for being too lazy...

spidey · Jul 28, 2008

FootyFan365 said:
What? Of course Kukoc wasn't one of the greats! But trust me, as a Pacers fan, I know damn well of Kukoc's qualities and importance to the Bulls. There is no denying he was one of the more intelligent players in the league. He knew how to score and he was smart, definitely not quick and athletic which hurt him on the defensive end most the time, but he was always on the same page with Jordan/Pippen/Kerr.

I think I just don't know the story, and what he's talking about in the video. Cause for some of the biggest Croatian fans not to acknowledge Kukoc as top 3 to 5 of Croatia's best players, he must have done something more then just attend Vlade's retirement party.

you shouldn comment on something u dont know what u are talking about..there is a reason why kukoc is not even liked in his hometown of split..here is a question would u still be friends with someone who stomped all over the ukranian flag?

FootyFan365 · Jul 28, 2008

spidey said:
you shouldn comment on something u dont know what u are talking about..there is a reason why kukoc is not even liked in his hometown of split..here is a question would u still be friends with someone who stomped all over the ukranian flag?

petro, is this true? Did he step all over a Croatian flag in public, or on camera or something?

Toni Kukoc misunderstood?

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