Chinese Jokic & Top 10 Best/Worst International Comparisons Ever

The most shocking moment of Day 1 (Adam, nobody wants two days) of the 2025 NBA Draft wasn't Danny Ainge saying, "F*** it!" and drafting Ace Bailey to the Utah Jazz with the 5th pick. Dell Curry told the Warriors not to draft Steph, and things turned out pretty well for the franchise. And we are talking about Danny Ainge.

The most shocking moment wasn't the New Orleans Pelicans sending the No. 23 pick and an UNPROTECTED 2026 First-round pick to move up 10 spots to select Derik Queen (there's a good Zion joke here). It's the Pelicans, with the same guy in the front office who selected Darko over Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh.

The Next Jokic? Why the Blazers Drafted Yang Hansen

“This was one of the five dumbest trades of this decade," Said Bill Simmons. "I was speechless. I just can’t believe it. And who is it? It’s our guy Joe Dumars...They should be showing the Hawks’ war room as guys are taking their shirts off and popping champagne on each other.”

The most shocking moment of the night, for me, was when the Portland Trailblazers selected "The Chinese Jokic" with the 16th pick!

That's 25 higher than where the Nuggets selected the real Nikola Jokic, while ESPN aired a Taco Bell Quesarito commercial. That's also about 25 higher than where most scouts predicted the 19-year-old Yang Hansen would be picked. It was so shocking that ESPN had Yang sitting near the 25th row in the stands.

Chinese Jokic Highlights

The selection of the 7'2" center from the Qingdao Eagles happened on the 23rd anniversary of when Yao Ming became the first Chinese player to go first in the NBA Draft. The day before this anniversary, Yao the Hall of Famer offered some great advice to Yang, Bailey, the great player the Pelicans traded away, and every player that will one day wear an NBA uniform: “No matter what the outcome of tomorrow’s draft is, it’s important to remember one thing: the draft is just a small part of their entire career, or even their life,” he said. “What really matters is the path they take afterward.”

In honor of the big night for Yang Hansen, who reminds some of Serbian Nikola Jokić, who reminded some of Lithuanian Arvydas Sabonis, who reminded some of the Big Red-Head Bill Walton, I wanted to revisit some of the most memorable and premature nicknames of former international players.

THE 7'3" LARRY BIRD (ARVYDAS SABONIS)

ARVYDAS SABONIS TOP 10 PLAYS OF HIS CAREER

Before Nikola Jokic came along, the title of "best passing Big Man ever" usually went to Arvydas Sabonis or Bill Walton. My pick is Sabonis. Bill Simmons had Sabonis right behind Walton, who would agree with me because he was the unofficial President of the Sabonis fan club and once described him as "The 7'3" Larry Bird."

Here's the sometimes hyperbolic but always amusing Walton talking to Grantland.com about a prime Sabonis in the 80s:

"He probably had a quadruple-double at halftime, and his coach didn't even start him in the second half. You might as well just rewrite the rules of basketball after watching him play in the first half. He could do everything. He had the skills of Larry Bird and Pete Maravich, the athleticism of Kareem, could shoot the threecould pass, run the floor, dribble. We should have carried out a plan in the early 1980s to kidnap him and bring him back right then."

Despite being drafted by the Blazers in 1986, Sabonis didn't play his first NBA game until 1995, when he was 31 years old with multiple Achilles injuries. He was by far the stiffest and slowest-looking player in the league and still managed to be runner-up for Rookie Of The Year to Damon Stoudamire and runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year to Toni Kukoc (more about him soon).

"We would have had four, five or six titles," said 80s and early 90s Blazer Clyde Drexler. "Guaranteed. He was that good."

The 1987 Blazers featured MVP candidate Clyde Drexler, All-Star Steve Johnson, Most Improved Player Kevin Duckworth, 20-point scorer Kiki Vandeweghe, and Jerome Kersey, who averaged 19 and 8 points. Add "the 7'3" Larry Bird" to this and the Glide is probably right.

Another thing worth mentioning is, 12 days before Sabonis was runner up to Rookie of the Year and the Sixth Man award, he was celebrating the birth of his son, Domantas. Domas grew up a Rasheed Wallace fan and turned out to be 3x NBA All-Star and rebounding leader who Shaq calls "Lithuanian Lasagna."

MAGIC WITH A BEARD (VLADE DIVAC)

Vlade Divac | Hall of Fame Highlight Reel!

The first European player I ever heard of was Vlade Divac in 1989. That's because the Showtime Lakers were my first favorite team and the reason I fell in love with basketball. My initial reaction to seeing Kareem's Serbian backup was, "Yakov Smirnoff plays for the Lakers now! America: What a country!" You need to be 40+ to get that joke. And if you were 40+ you probably thought it was a joke when you heard the late, great Chick Hearn call Vlade "Magic with a beard."

How can a center that averages three assists receive such high praise from Chick? Check the mixtapes (Lakers or Kings). He could pass.

His passing skills were almost as impressive as his flopping skills, which earned him the nickname "The European Laimbeer." They were so exceptional that some consider him the greatest flopper of all time.

The 2001 All-Star is more well-known to 30-somethings as the guy Kobe was traded for, and to 20-somethings as the guy who drafted Marvin Bagley III over "The Slovenian LeBron."

LUKA MAGIC (LUKA DONCIC)

From the archive: Luka Doncic highlights

A decade before the Lakers trio of Bron, Bronny, and Luka were called BBL, 16-year-old Luka Doncic started playing professional basketball with Real Madrid in the Liga ACB.

At age 17, he had 3 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in a preseason game against Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder.

At age 19, he became a Euroleague Champion and the youngest Euroleague MVP ever. Some started calling him "The Slovenian LeBron" and "Luka Magic." I was calling him the future No. 1 Draft pick. The Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings (Hello, Vlade!) disagreed.

"I had De'Aaron Fox at that position, whom I drafted a year earlier," Divac said "At that moment, I thought Fox was a player who could become a franchise player in the next period. Time will tell if I was wrong."

Time passed, and he told "Magic with a Beard" that he was wrong about "Luka Magic/Slovenian LeBron." And now Luka is throwing lobs to LeBron while playing in the jersey that Magic and Vlade used to wear.

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 WHITE MAGIC (TONI KUKOC)

Toni Kukoc's BEST Career Highlights

I promise that not every player on the list will be an international version of Magic or Bird. This player is the last one. This player was also the first one I recall hearing great things about.

Most of us arrogant Americans didn't think any country had a chance at beating our Dream Team. However, we did hear that the only team that could be a threat is Cuba! I'm kidding. The USA beat Cuba by 79 points. The real threat was Croatia, which had a skinny, 23-year-old known for quadruple-doubles, MVP awards, and Magic-like passes.

"All we heard in Chicago was how great Toni Kukoc was from Jerry Krause (who drafted Kukoc in the 1990 NBA Draft and wouldn't give Scottie Pippen a new contract until he knew what Kukoc was going to do)," said Michael Jordan during THE LAST DANCE. "And we made a pact that we were not going to let this guy do anything against us. So it was like, 'Okay, you got him in the first half, I got him in the second half.' We're going to make sure this kid doesn't upstage the Dream Team."

They held him to four points on 2-of-11 shooting in their first meeting.

The two teams had a rematch in the Gold Medal game. Kukoc finished with 16 points in the most competitive game the Dream Team had to play in. Croatia only lost by 33.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen CLAMP Toni Kukoc at 1992 Olympics | NBC Sports

"Krause was recruiting this guy and talking about how great he was," Jordan added. "That's like a father who has all his kids, and now he sees another one that he loves more than he loves his own. So, we weren't playing against Toni Kukoc; we were playing against Jerry Krause in a Croatian uniform."

White Magic, also known as The Waiter, The Pink Panther, and The Croatian Sensation, finally came to the NBA in 1993. He won Sixth Man of the Year and the first of three consecutive Championships two seasons later. Although most know him only as Bull, his highest production came during his half-season with the Atlanta Hawks in 2001 when he averaged 19.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds.

"I would like to thank Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for kicking my butt during the Olympics in Barcelona, and then motivating me to work even harder to become an important part of the Chicago Bulls." - Toni Kukoc

THE CROATIAN KOBE (MARIO HEZONJA)

Mario Hezonja Top 10 Plays of his Career

And you thought the Tracy McGrady arguments were the most disrespectful thing you heard about Kobe this week. Back in 2015, Mario Hezonja was known to some as the best European shooting guard since the late, great Drazen Petrovic. The ultra-confident 20-year-old was so sure of his skills that he thought he had a shot at being picked over Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015 NBA Draft.

“If I was in college I’d probably be the No. 1 pick,” Hezonja said to Basketball Insiders. “I had an offer from Kentucky. I’m European, and I need to work harder to break into the U.S. market.”

"Mario is the only kid in the draft who actually believes he can beat Kobe Bryant one-on-one," said the GM of Cedevita Zagreb.

The last quote says a lot, considering Kobe was his favorite player growing up, and he used to study tapes of the Lakers' legend.

Despite reported efforts by his camp to "pull a Kobe" and get him to Detroit at the 8th pick, he ended up going to Orlando with the 5th.

Like Kobe, he spent most of his rookie season coming off the bench. Unlike Kobe, he remained a 6th Man while averaging less than 10 points for three seasons before signing with the Knicks as a free agent.

His numbers in New York weren't much better but he did have a game-winning block on LeBron that led to one of the best NBA photos of the year. In another game, he dunked and stepped over Giannis, who told reporters he would punch Mario in the nuts if he tried that again.

"There was a lot I didn't like there," Said Mario, who finished his fifth and final year in the NBA with the Blazers in 2021. "I am not going to return to the NBA. I didn't get the respect I deserved. Also, in my opinion, the NBA is more a show than the game itself."

THE CROATIAN MARAVICH (DRAZEN PETROVIC)

NBA Legends On How DANGEROUS Drazen Petrovic Was

As previously mentioned, Drazen Petrovic was considered the first great European shooting guard. And in that Gold Medal loss to the Dream Team, he scored a game-high 24 points (two more than Michael Jordan and eight more than Kukoc) with 5 assists and 4 steals.

His season after the Olympics was his best, as he made the All-NBA 3rd team after averaging 22.3 points per game on 52% FG, 45% 3PT, and 87% FT shooting! Can you imagine him playing today with the green light to take 10+ 3PTS a game? Look at these performances:

• 44 PTS (17/23 FG, 3/3 3PT)
• 39 PTS (17/26 FG, 2/3 3PT)
• 38 PTS (13/19 FG, 2/3 3PT)
• 35 PTS (12/18 FG, 4/5 3PT)
• 34 PTS (13/23 FG, 5/7 3PT)
• 32 PTS (12/15 FG, 4/6 3PT)

Reggie Miller raving about Petro on the All The Smoke Podcast: "I tell people this. Curry is the GOAT of all shooters. I'll give him all that. But before him? Man, you could be this close to him (moving right next to the microphone), and it didn't matter. And not only is he giving it off, he's telling you about it too. Broken-good English. I didn't get frustrated against a lot of players but that dude. This dude was the best shooter, catch and shoot, one dribble, two dribble. He did not miss. No, literally."

STEPH & PETRO

Speaking of Steph Curry, there's a 2015 NBA Finals Curry jersey in the Drazen Petrovic Museum. What's the connection? Petrovic's mother helped look after 4-year-old Steph during the 1992 NBA 3-Point Contest that featured Petrovic and Dell Curry.

Petro died in a tragic car accident a year later. And as flattering as the nicknames "Croatian Maravich" and "Croatian Jerry West" are, the one I'm glad has stuck is "The Mozart of Basketball."

THE ITALIAN DIRK (ANDREA BARGNANI)

ANDREA BARGNANI TOP 10 PLAYS OF CAREER!

Andrea Bargnani was the No. 1 pick in his 2006 Draft class, which is most notable for the Blazers ending up with LaMarcus Aldridge (2nd pick) and Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy (6th pick). The Raptors' selection made him the first European to ever go first in the Draft and just the fourth Italian-born player to ever make it to the league. And he accomplished all of this after averaging just 10.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in the EuroLeague.

So why would an NBA team want those numbers over LaMarcus Aldridge or the NCAA leading scorer, Adam Morrison?

I believe it was the NBA's obsession over finding the "Next Dirk" around that time. For years, teams drafted international 7-footers with a jumper, including Darko Miličić, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Žarko Čabarkapa, and Maciej Lampe. Not only were they not the "Next Dirk," they were barely NBA material.

The 7'0" Bargnani seemed a little different. His three-point shooting blew away NBA scouts, and the way he moved and jumped seemed a lot more fluid than that of the average American center. So, the Raptors took the gamble and teamed him up with Chris Bosh (another player who would flourish more in today's game).

As a 6th Man, he finished second in Rookie Of The Year voting.

After a disappointing second season, he increased his scoring for two years and then averaged a career-high 21.4 points in his fifth season, which saw him become the primary offense since Chris Bosh took his talents to South Beach.

Then things went downhill. So downhill, this is how Sports Illustrated explained his final injury-riddle season and trade to the New York Knicks:

"This was a nightmare season so bad it seemed to be put together in an evil doctor's laboratory. If you wanted to construct the least likable NBA player, he would surely be an overpaid, unmotivated, injury-riddled, poor-rebounding, poor-defending, perimeter-oriented seven-footer who is supposed to be a shooting specialist but can't hit the broadside of a barn and, inexplicably, has the full backing of management."

After three years in New York (final season was with the Brooklyn Nets), Bargnani returned to Europe.

BRAZILIAN MICHAEL JORDAN (OSCAR SCHMIDT)

Oscar Schmidt On Being Kobe's Favorite Player: "He Grew Up Watching Me Beat His Dad Every Year"

Once upon a time, in late 1980s Italy, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant was telling his young son, Kobe, about the greatness of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Kobe replied, "The good one is Oscar; he beats your team all the time."

The Oscar Kobe is referring to is basketball legend Oscar Schmidt, who was one of Kobe's favorite players and held the record for most career basketball points (49,737) until LeBron broke it earlier this year.

“Kobe said he used to call me ‘La Bomba.' In Brazil everyone calls me ‘Holy Hand’ because of my throws, but I liked his nickname for me, too,” said Schmidt.

The nickname I knew Schmidt by was 'The Brazilian Jordan.' Their games couldn't be more different, but the reason why he had it and why Kobe was such a huge fan is because Schmidt was an unstoppable scorer.

Italy? He was the leading scorer for 7 years.

Brazil? He was the leading scorer for 8 years, from the age of 37 to 45!

OSCAR SCHMIDT HOLY HAND

FIBA World Cup? Of course, he's the all-time leading scorer.

Pan American games? He scored 46 in an upset win over the United States. That victory and the USA's loss in the 1988 Olympics is why the USA created the Dream Team in 1992.

Olympics? He was the leading scorer in 1988 (42.3 PPG, with an Olympic record 55 points in one game), 1992 (24 points against the Dream Team), and 1996 (27.4 PPG at the age of 38).

NBA? He never played and was insulted that the Nets drafted him in the 6th round of the 1984 Draft. Kobe, who has a fun story about making sure the Nets didn't draft him in 1996, agreed it was an insult.

Another fun story about Schmidt and another name on this list took place in the final game of the 1989 Winners Cup between Real Madrid and Italy's Snaidero Caserta. Schmidt scored 44 points but was outshined by Drazen Petrovic's 62, including 11 in overtime.

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CHINESE SHAQ (YAO MING)

Yao Ming's Top 40 | Career Plays

We started the list with the "Chinese Jokic" and will be ending it with the "Chinese Shaq."

Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal have completely different games, but it was a great way to sell the 2002 No. 1 Draft pick to American audiences. Shaq was coming off a three-peat with the Lakers, and Yao was coming off a championship with the Shanghai Sharks, and playoff averages of 38.9 points (77% FG) and 20 rebounds!

Many media personalities predicted Yao would struggle in the NBA, and Charles Barkley famously told Kenny Smith on INSIDE THE NBA, "If Yao can get 19 points in a game, I'll kiss Kenny's ass. Right here."

In his 8th NBA game, Yao faced off against a Shaq-less Lakers team and scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting. Barkley didn't kiss Kenny's ass, but he did kiss Kenny's donkey.

Two games later, he scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-12 shooting off the bench against Shawn Bradley, Dirk Nowitzki, and Eduardo Najera.

YAO VS SHAQ

Yao Ming vs Shaq | FIRST Game Ever | After Shaq’s Racist Comments On Ming | BasketballDream

On January 17, 2003, Yao Ming played his first game against Shaq. There was a lot of controversy heading into this game because of A comment Shaq made a few days earlier:

"Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'''

Shaq apologized and said it was just a joke: "Sometimes I make a good joke and sometimes it's a bad joke. That's just the ups and downs of trying to be a comedian.''

Yao said he didn't take it personally, but he played like he did.

SHAQ: "My first impression of Yao was, 'Who the f*** is this?' I tried to hit him with a smooth finger roll. Block. Next play down, I tried to hit him with a fade away. Block. Next time tried to come up and dunk. Block. He was the first guy to block my shot three times in a row. So, he's definitely the first guy I had to change how I played against him. He's also the first guy to look me right in the face and just shoot right over me."

What Shaq didn't mention during this interview with Yao sitting next to him is Shaq dominated the rest of the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Yao finished with 10 points (5/14 FG), 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks.

Due to injuries, Yao played just 486 games in nine seasons. Nine was still enough to make eight All-Star teams, five All-NBA ones, have his Rockets jersey retired, and get inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. And guess who inducted him? None other than the guy he was compared to coming into the league.

Yao Ming's Hall of Fame Speech Hilarious Jokes with Shaq

THE CHINESE SUPER BOWL

Another game worth mentioning to describe the popularity of Yao and basketball in China happened in 2007, when he played his first game against 6x CBA Champion Yi Jianlian. 150-200 million people in China watched the game. For context, the 2006 Super Bowl had approximately 93 million viewers, while the 2006 NBA Finals averaged around 13 million.

BONUS COMPARISONS

Here are a few more international players with amusing nicknames that thankfully didn't stick.

• Dragan Bender - The Next Porzingis
• Fernando Martin - The Spanish Rambis
• Dino Radja - The Croatian McHale
• Alperen Sengun - Baby Jokic
• Alexander Volkov - The Soviet Bird
• Victor Wembanyama - Ralph Sampson 2.0

I also want to give a shout out to Kristaps Porzingis, who drew a lot of lazy comparisons to Dirk when he arrived in the league and had some awesome nicknames, like "3 6 Latvia" and "PorzinGod." He's also the original "Unicorn." Kevin Durant gave him that name in 2016, and now that term is thrown around (Bol Bol) the way people used to throw around Magic Johnson's name.

Kevin Durant takes 'full credit' for Porzingis' unicorn nickname