VIDEO: A look at the Croatians playing in the NBA 2018-9 season
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
The new NBA season starts on Tuesday when Golden State Warriors take on Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics face Philadelphia 76ers.
This season will be the 73rd in history with six Croatians taking part, the same number as last season.
HRT takes a look at the Croatian players involved in the 2018-9 NBA season.
Dragan Bender (Phoenix Suns)
20-year-old Bender will be playing his third season with the Phoenix Suns. After a quiet first couple seasons in the NBA, more is expected this season from Bender.
Last season he played in 82 matches, averaging 25.2 minutes per match but just 5.4 points and 3.7 rebounds.
Bojan Bogdanović (Indiana Pacers)
The most experienced Croatian playing in the NBA currently, Bogdanović has played 318 matches in the regular season and 26 playoff matches.
Bogdanović was 40.2% last season with three-pointers and averages 14.3 points in just over 30 minutes on the parquet.
Mario Hezonja (New York Knicks)
Hezonja (22) moved this season to the Knicks. Hezonja in his third season with Orlando averaged 9.6 points and in 5 pre-season games for the Knicks scored 8, 3, 5, 10 and 14 points.
Dario Šarić (Philadelphia 76ers)
Philadelphia goes into this season with a similar team to last season. Šarić had a good season last season he averaged 14.6 points. He also improved his three-point percentage from 31.1 to 39.3%.
Ante Žižić (Cleveland Cavaliers)
With the departure of LeBron James Cleveland enter a new era. Žižić has had a good pre-season, in four matches he averaged 15 minutes on court per game averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Ivica Zubac (LA Lakers)
The young Croatian centre will be looking for more court time this season. In pre-season Zubac averaged 11 minutes and averaged more than 6 points a game. With LeBron joining the Lakers this season Zubac has the chance to learn and play with a great.