When the name Ivica Zubac was mentioned in the 2016 NBA Draft as Los Angeles Lakers’ #32 Overall Pick, fans were both shocked and surprised, not because he is the unknown contender, but because many have never heard his name before.
Two seasons later, the expression of surprise and disappointment on the faces of the fans disappeared during the draft, and the fans became familiar with the Croatian player, who is undeniably one of the most promising players not only in the team but also in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The Croatian professional basketball player plays in the middle position and wears jersey No. 40. Below you will find all the other facts you need to know about him.
Ivica Zubac Biography
Zubac was born on March 18, 1997, in the city of Citluk in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is no information about his early life and education, but about his career.
According to reports, he started playing basketball at the age of six with Cibona Zagreb, and later in the 2013/14 season, he would play for KK Zrinjevac Zagreb (a Croatian basketball team in the second division) and would make it into the list of the men’s team of Cibona Zagreb next season.
Ivica played in Croatia’s top group A1 as well as in the Adriatic League. In his first year he played in his first year and in his second year he played in the FIBA European Cup. Due to the financial difficulties of Cibona, he left the team in 2016 and signed up with Mega Leks from Serbia.
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NBA Career
He began his NBA career in 2016 with the Los Angeles Lakers, who voted him 32nd overall in the NBA Draft. A few weeks later he was on the team for the summer league.
Zubac made his NBA debut in November in a game against the Atlanta Hawks, where he was a substitute for Timofey Mozgov. His best game of the season came after ten games with the team, in a match against the Denver Nuggets. He made a team-high of thirteen points and scored eleven points.
During his first season with the Lakers, he had other responsibilities at the D-League subsidiary Los Angeles D-Fenders. His second season with the team didn’t come close to what you would consider a perfect season.
Due to an unimpressive performance during the 2017 Summer League in Las Vegas, Zubac was put on reserve during the regular season and lost the role of substitute center he played to Andrew Bogut. As a result, his statistics dropped to 2.9 rebounds and 3.7 points in 9.5 minutes per game.
With this decline, they thought the Lakers would terminate their contract with the younger player, but they did not, keeping him on the roster and running his $1.5 million contracts for the 2018-19 season. One thing they did, however, was to assign him several roles in their team’s NBA G League subsidiary, the South Bay Lakers.
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Ivica Zubac FIBA Career
In 2013 Ivica Zubac played for the Croatian national junior team during the FIBA Europe U-16 Championship and also with the under 19s during the FIBA U-19 World Championships, which were held in Greece in 2015, the team came home with the silver medal.
He also performed outstandingly at the 2019 FIBA World Championship Qualifiers for his home country Croatia. The Croatian team was on the verge of elimination after a 3-1 record in the first four matches when Zubac saved them with his heroic performances that helped the team win against Italy and Romania, which ended with a 3-3 record of 0.500.
In the game against Italy he scored 12 points in a 78-72 win and in the game against Romania he scored 20 points, which ensured Croatia a 90-63 win.
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His Family, Girlfriend
Ivica Zubac is the son of Dijana and Ivan Zubac. The NBA player has a brother named Antonio Zubac. The family of Ivica Zubac is closely connected and is one of his biggest fans.
Sometimes they travel such a long distance to watch him play, and if they can’t make it to the venue, they even stay up into the night to watch him play. The family owns vineyards, which they use mainly for recreational purposes, and they also harvest their fruit to make wine for their consumption.
Ivica has a friend named Kristina Prisc whom they met in Zagreb and who has followed him wherever his career has taken him. When he played for the Mega Leks of the Serbian League, she moved with him to Belgrade, and when he started his NBA career in the States, she moved with her admirer to the USA as well.
His Height, Weight, and Body Measurements
Ivica Zubac is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest among his team members. With a height of 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in), he is certainly on the list of the biggest players in the NBA. He weighs 120 kg, but his other body values are not known.