Lakers rookie Ivica Zubac is living his dream of being an NBA player

Reporting from Las Vegas —  His basketball odyssey began a world away from the United States, a winding path through the Balkans that eventually landed Ivica Zubac in Los Angeles with the Lakers.

He grew up in the little town of Citluk with about 5,000 people, but Zubac was born in Mostar, a city with just over 100,000 citizens in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because his city “didn’t have a hospital.”

As he was growing into a 7-foot-1, 265-pound center, Zubac left his parents and siblings behind at 13 and moved about 500 miles away from home to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Basketball was calling him.

And his journey could only begin if he followed his love to wherever it was going to take him. That’s now with the Lakers -- a second-round pick taken 32nd overall seeking to make a life for himself in the NBA.

“Yeah, it was hard, a little bit,” Zubac said. “But I knew if I was going to make it, I got to go. So it wasn’t really hard to go play just because I was leaving my friends and family. I knew I had to go.”

The Lakers had been one of his favorite teams and Kobe Bryant one of his favorite players.

But his dreams never had Zubac playing for the Lakers.

When he had pre-draft workouts with Detroit, Memphis, Boston and Toronto, Zubac had heard the chatter that teams from “15-25 in the draft showed a lot of interest” in him.

But he kept falling and falling and waiting and waiting in the green room on draft night in Brooklyn as other players went before him.

“I was really mad until the 23rd pick and I wasn’t selected and my agent told me, ‘If nobody selects you, you’re going to the Lakers,’” Zubac said. “So I was hoping to not go in the first round of the draft.”

It didn’t take long for Lakers fans to become enamored with young Zubac. After his long arms stretched out to block a shot against New Orleans in his debut with the Lakers in the summer league Friday night, the fans chanted “Zu-bac!” repeatedly. They obviously were happy with what they were seeing from the 19-year-old whose name is pronounced EE-vits-uh ZOO-bahtz.

He had two more blocks to go with 11 points and five rebounds.

“His defense has been great for us,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “He has a nice touch. He’s skilled, can shoot a mid-range jumper and can score in the post. For a 19-year-old kid that’s living in America by himself for weeks, he’s been great. He’s been a pleasant surprise.”

“I tell him all the time, he reminds me of Marc Gasol a little bit, a big fella with some sweetness to him,” D’Angelo Russell said. “But, he’s really good. I don’t think people know how good he is yet.”

Zubac had to find his way as a player, admitting he needed some type of self-assurance that the NBA was a possibility.

His cousin Zoran Planinic played three seasons for the then-New Jersey Nets, and became Zubac’s mentor.

Zubac had been a fan of Memphis center Gasol and NBA Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon.

Then last summer came, when Zubac played on the Croatian national team in the Under-19 World Championships in Greece.

He averaged 17.6 points in the tournament, the third-highest average, and 7.9 rebounds.

But it was during the championship game Croatia lost in overtime to the United States, 79-71, when Zubac recalled how he got his assurance he could play in The League.

He had a double-double against the Americans, posting 12 points and 13 rebounds.

“Nobody before knew me,” Zubac said. “We almost beat USA. We lost in overtime. So after that, I knew it. This is it. If I continue to work hard, I can make it to the NBA.”

The transition Zubac will have to make to play with grown men probably is more challenging than it will be for most other rookies.

It’ll be more than just getting stronger and learning how to play.

Zubac is living in a new world and English is not his first language.

But he has been on his own since he was 15, and believes that will serve him well in Los Angeles, where he plans to live with his girlfriend.

“I learned how to cook, how to iron clothes,” Zubac said. “That really helped me be more mature than guys who are my age.

“Look, nobody is expecting too much from me for now. But I want to prove them wrong and I want to prove that I can help.”

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner