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Who Is Mirza Teletovic?

By Ti Windisch

Feb 21, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Mirza Teletovic (35) shoots over San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills (8) during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Spurs won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Mirza Teletovic (35) shoots over San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills (8) during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Spurs won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mirza Teletovic has had a long path to get to the NBA, and now more specifically the Milwaukee Bucks.

Although he had a strong season with the Phoenix Suns last year, many fans of the Milwaukee Bucks might not know a lot about Mirza Teletovic.

The most common facts about the 30-year-old Bosnian have already made their rounds around Milwaukee at this point. Pretty much everybody knows he can shoot very well, especially for a guy who typically slots as a power forward.

Many people also know he missed most of the 2014-15 NBA season because of some blood clots found in his lungs. Teletovic bounced back with a great season last year, but that’s a dangerous condition to have to deal with.

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There’s a lot more to Teletovic’s story than just being just another NBA stretch four, though. He’s got just four NBA seasons under his belt, because before his rookie year in 2012 he spent the last 10 years playing overseas basketball.

Teletovic started in the Bosnian First Division and then moved to Belgium and finally Euroleague in 2006. That’s where Teletovic spent the rest of his basketball career before coming to Brooklyn some six years later.

Teletovic declared for the 2007 NBA Draft, but went undrafted. He played in Euroleague for a few more seasons before being brought overseas by the Nets.

That alone is a long and hard path to the NBA, but Teletovic’s story actually starts before he ever played in any league. His childhood home was under siege for 18 months when Teletovic was young, and those experiences have shaped his entire life–and basketball career.

These quotes from a Nets Daily transcript of an interview with Teletovic about his childhood are powerful, and telling.

"“I was seven years old when the war started. First you start seeing that there’s no food, then grenades come down, the whole city is shaking, and you hear people screaming. Every day, your parents come in and say ‘our neighbor died, our cousin died.” Always somebody dying. One day, I asked my mother, ‘Is anybody alive?’ It was very, very rough for us. It left, I will say, a memory.“I used to wake up at six o’clock in the morning and go to the basketball court. I wouldn’t come home until 11 or 12 o’clock at night. when You don’t know the situation at that time. you don’t even have shoes. The basketball court is like 300 meters from my house. And all my friends and me are playing and then you hear the sirens like the grenades start falling down and just run to your house and hide. If I have to die, I die. For basketball, I will do anything.“Real pressure is to survive. That’s the real pressure. But you know how they say, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. so that makes me a lot stronger. You start thinking like if they didn’t kill me during the war, they’re ain’t going to kill me today.“When you come to the NBA, its the toughest basketball league in the world. And if you get an experience and a chance to play in it, after everything that you’ve been through, I mean for me, it can’t be better.”"

Teletovic isn’t just another stretch four–he’s literally been through a warzone. It’s hard not to be happy for him now that he’s set to sign a $30 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks after what he’s been through.

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It’s hard not to be happy for the Bucks, either. $10 million a season isn’t much for a player as good as Teletovic was last season.

The 6’9″ Teletovic scored a career best 12.2 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.3 percent three-point shooting. He’s a volume shooter too, who took nearly six threes per game with the Suns.

He made enough of those attempted threes to quietly break the NBA record for made threes by a reserve player in 2015-16. That couldn’t match up with the Bucks needs more perfectly–a proven, reliable bench shooter.

Mirza Teletovic plays a fun, efficient brand of basketball. He’s been through hell, and is stronger for it. He’s a quality stretch four who should space the floor well next season.

Next: Grading The (Potental) Dellavedova Signing

He’s also now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. Welcome to Milwaukee, Mirza!

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