Ivica Zubac

Ivica Zubac
Zubac with the Lakers during the 2016 NBA Summer League.
No. 40 – Los Angeles Lakers
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1997-03-18) March 18, 1997
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nationality Croatian
Listed height 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 32nd overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career 2013–present
Career history
2013–2014 Zrinjevac
2014–2016 Cibona
2016 Mega Leks
2016–present Los Angeles Lakers
2016–2017 →Los Angeles D-Fenders
2017–2018 →South Bay Lakers
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Croatia
FIBA U19 World Championship
2015 Greece National team

Ivica Zubac (Croatian: [iʋit͡sa zubat͡s]; born 18 March 1997) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft.

Professional career

Europe (2013–2016)

Zubac came through the youth ranks of Cibona Zagreb and then played for KK Zrinjevac Zagreb in the second Croatian division during the 2013–14 season. He made the roster of Cibona Zagreb's men's team the following season, becoming a part of a group of prospects including Nik Slavica and Ante Žižić after the departure of Dario Šarić. He played in Croatia's top-tier level A1 league and in the Adriatic League his first year and also saw action in the FIBA Europe Cup his second year.[1] In February 2016, he left Cibona because of the financial difficulties of the team, and signed with Mega Leks of Serbia.[2]

Los Angeles Lakers (2016–present)

Rookie season (2016–17)

On June 23, 2016, Zubac was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.[3] On July 7, he signed with the Lakers and joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[4] Zubac made his NBA debut on November 2, 2016, scoring six points as the fill-in starter for Timofey Mozgov, as the Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 123–116.[5] After appearing in only 10 NBA games over the first half of the season, Zubac had a season-best game on January 17, 2017 against the Denver Nuggets. He put together his first double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds. He also had three blocked shots in the 127–121 loss.[6] On March 12, 2017, he had 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high four blocked shots in a 118–116 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[7] The following night, he had a season-best game with a career-best 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting to go with 11 rebounds in a 129–101 loss to the Denver Nuggets.[8] On 31 March 2017, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain in his right ankle.[9] During his rookie season, Zubac had multiple assignments with the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' D-League affiliate.[10]

2017–18 season

During the 2017–18 season, Zubac had multiple assignments with the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers' NBA G League affiliate due to limited playing time in the regular season.

Croatian national team

Zubac represented the Croatian junior national team during the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship.[11] He averaged 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds a contest during the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Greece,[12] while receiving All-World Championship Under-19 Second Team honors from the European basketball website eurobasket.com.[13] Zubac averaged double digits in scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (12.9 rebounds per game), to go along with 3.0 blocks per game at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship,[14] while making the all-tournament second team (as selected by eurobasket.com).[15]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 L.A. Lakers 381116.0.529.000.6534.2.8.4.97.5
2017–18 L.A. Lakers 4309.5.500.000.7652.8.6.2.33.7
Career 811112.6.519.000.7103.5.7.3.65.5

Personal life

Zubac grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the town of Čitluk that is just east of the Croatian border. He has dual citizenship, but identifies as Croatian.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ivica Zubac | FIBA Europe Cup". FIBAEurope.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Zubac posvađao Cibonu i Cedevitu, a potpisao za Mega Leks". Novosti.rs (in Serbian). February 16, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lakers Draft Ivica Zubac with 32nd Overall Pick". NBA.com. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Lakers Sign Clarkson, Deng, and Zubac". NBA.com. July 7, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Williams lifts Lakers to 123-116 comeback win over Hawks". ESPN.com. November 2, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Jokic scores 29, Nuggets hold off struggling Lakers 127-121". ESPN.com. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ivica Zubac 2016-17 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ Ramirez, Joey (March 13, 2017). "Zubac Shines Despite Loss to Denver". NBA.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ivica Zubac Injury Update". NBA.com. March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  10. ↑ "2016-17 NBA Assignments". NBA.com. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ivica Zubac | U16 European Championship Men (2013) | FIBA Europe". FIBAEurope.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ivica ZUBAC at the Players of the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship - FIBA.com". FIBA.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ "World Championships U19 2015 - Men Basketball". Eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Ivica Zubac | U18 Europe Championship Men - Division A". FIBAEurope.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  15. ↑ "European Championships U18 2015 - Men Basketball". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  16. ↑ http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/170216-history-future-of-ivica-zubac/
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