Former NBA player Darko Milicic had a very measured response to some recent criticism from Carmelo Anthony.
Milicic was the second pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons right after LeBron James was taken by the Cavaliers. Anthony went third to the Nuggets, and the fact Darko was taken ahead of him has always been a laughing point among NBA fans. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
During a recent talk with Dwyane Wade, Melo pretended to not know who Darko was.
DWade says he didn’t know about Darko before the draft
Melo: “Who?” ???????????? pic.twitter.com/WnrqVrjJ2f
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) March 27, 2020
According to TMZ Sports, Milicic told b92.net the following in part about his reaction to Anthony’s comments, “We are not kids, we are adults. I hope you are ripe to understand that life is full of ups and downs…To them, as always, I wish everyone good and every honor in their careers and in further life a lot of success and less condemnation.”
This is a classy response from Darko. He’s been out of the NBA for awhile, and there’s no point at all in stirring up problems and drama.
If Anthony and others want to take shots, then so be it. Darko is back in Europe, and he seems incredibly happy there.
Also, we all know Carmelo Anthony knows who the former NBA big man is. He’s literally done interviews about him before.
Also, I’ll admit this for all of you. I was a gigantic Darko fan when the Pistons drafted him back in 2003. I thought he was going to be a superstar.
I even got a Darko Milicic jersey for Christmas that year. Clearly, I was wrong on that prediction, but people overreact way too much to how his NBA career went.
The guy was a pro basketball player for a decade and made more than $50 million.
Either way, props to him for being the bigger man in this situation.