Los Angeles Lakers: Ivica Zubac Shares Unique Connection With Andrew Bogut

Newest Laker Andrew Bogut’s ability to fluently speak Croatian has been a vital weapon in terms of Ivica Zubac’s maturation.

Over the course of the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers front office worked tirelessly to improve the team. One of the positions the executives focused a lot on was at center.

This was proven several months back when L.A. shopped D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov in exchange for Brook Lopez. Once this move was executed, one thing was certain. There was going to be no way that 20-year-old Ivica Zubac was going to be in the Lakers’ starting lineup this season.

Despite becoming a fan favorite in 2016-2017, it became clear that Zubac would not be earning significant minutes quite yet. This became even more evident a little over a couple weeks back. At said point, the Lakers signed big man Andrew Bogut to a non-guaranteed contract. Due to this move, the competition down low reached new heights.

Although some fans may be sad that Zubac will not be in the starting five, the Croatian is seeing the glass as half full right now.

A recent tweet by Ryan Ward of ClutchPoints confirmed this idea. According to Ward, Zubac is learning a great deal from one of the newer additions to the team.

This is certainly encouraging to hear and demonstrates Zubac’s desire to maximize his potential. Given that Lopez is one of the better offensive bigs in the league, anything Brook offers is beneficial.

Albeit the advice from Lopez will come in handy, Zublocka has been extremely thankful for Bogut’s presence. The grateful spirit largely stems from a somewhat surprising linkage between the two Lakers. Even though Bogut is a native of Australia, his parents carry Croatian roots.

Because of this, Bogut is fairly fluent in Croatian in spite of the fact that his grammar is not the best in his eyes. It gives Zubac immediate comfort because such a luxury did not exist in his rookie campaign. The latter player now has someone that he can freely talk to about the game of basketball.

Shahan Ahmed of NBC Los Angeles grasps this truth and elaborates on what makes the Bogut signing a good one for Los Angeles.

"In a basketball sense, Zubac understands the advantages of playing with a veteran like Bogut. In a human sense, Bogut provides an ear that can understand the young center playing over 6,000 miles from home in his native tongue, as well as a voice that can better explain minor technical nuances of the game that may be slightly getting lost in translation."

It is not to assert that Zubac does not know English—he actually speaks it rather well. Nevertheless, the bits of Croatian he has been hearing in practice are slowing things down for him.

Part of the problem Ivica experienced in Summer League was how fast-paced the atmosphere was. With Andrew Bogut aboard, though, the game tweaks itself to a level that is easier to deduce.

It does not invalidate the words Luke Walton is trying to get across to Zu and the rest of the ball club. However, anything Luke says is bound to make a little extra sense to a veteran as seasoned as Bogut.

Bogut came into the league way back in 2005, so his understanding of the game is crisp. At this stage, Zubac was merely a pupil immersed in grade school.

Therefore, the Aussie occupies the ability to break down technicalities in a way that is, well, not too technical.

As transcribed by Bill Oram of The Orange County Register, Bogut recently explained the perks behind this common thread with his teammate.

"“Sometimes when you hear it in your own native tongue it kind of clicks in a little more,” Bogut said. “However I can help him in that sense isn’t a problem. … He’s a very humble kid. He works hard. Just (need to) get him to be confident and be a monster. He’ll be a very good player in this league.”"

The work ethic portion of Zubac’s game is by no means in question. This summer he worked very hard to scale down his body fat percentage. In the team’s first two preseason outings, the enhanced mobility has not been too hard to decipher.

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The part that is still being figured out is the “monster” component of Bogut’s quote. Monsters are the kind of players that are keyed in on every play (which this summer, alas, was a problem at times for Zubac).

Bearing that in mind, Zu’s development is just as contingent upon the mental aspect of the game let alone the physical. Defense in particular requires both attributes, an area Bogut excels in.

Zubac comprehends this and likewise believes that the heritage linkage will continue to do wonders. Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times recently discussed all the latest regarding Zu and Bogut’s relationship.

"“I can understand whatever [the coaches] say, but sometimes it’s much easier, like some tiny details, to hear in Croatian,” Zubac said. “Like I said, he’s one of the best defensive centers and he plays my position, so every practice he is showing me something new and he’s been great.”"

At any rate, the thinner Zubac has a pair of mentors to help him take his game to the next level. This is not something every young player can resonate with—he is lucky.

While some may think the likely lack of playing time this season may hurt the big fella, he will be learning a lot over the next set of months. It helps tremendously, too, when one of those mentors speaks the same language he does.

Next: 4 Training Camp Battles to Watch

In saying so, it is feasible to surmise that Bogut and Zubac will battle it out a lot in practice in the time to come. If anything, both of their respective games will improve in the process.

Provided that the team’s main goal this year is improvement, the aforesaid battles will surely be fitting. And, in all likelihood, those skirmishes could very well pay off once the regular season kicks off later this month.