For 90 days get to know more about the International players in the NBA. Day 69 brings...
Mirza Teletovic (F, Brooklyn Nets), Bosnia and Herzegovina
Height: 2.06m, 6-foot-9 | Weight: 109.8kg, 242 pounds | Born: 17 September 1985
For Mirza Teletovic, it took some time.
It took him 10 years of playing European ball – starting in 2002, with hometown club Sloboda Tuzla – to even reach the NBA. Then, once he was there, it took nearly a full year to find a spot in the Brooklyn Nets rotation. It took even longer for him to start his first game.
But by the time the Nets went on a run that nearly took them to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2013-14, Teletovic had provided one of Brooklyn's biggest sparks. The hot hand that brought him to the league in the first place came alive, with the marksman hitting just shy of 40 percent of his 3-pointers from March through the end of the regular season. And over the season's final 23 games, he put up 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 19 minutes a night.
This'll be a different Nets team this year, though. With Paul Pierce gone, the 6-foot-9 swingman will have a chance to play a pivotal role on a team full of question marks. And they'll need him.
Because in order to keep pace in the resurgent East, the Nets won't have the luxury of time.
Key Stats
GM: 72 | MIN: 19.4 | PTS: 8.6 | REB: 3.7 | 3PT%: 39.0
Season Highlights
He went for a career-high 34 points, including a 7-for-11 effort from 3-point range, against Dallas on 24 January
Five Things to Know
1. He's active in USAID in his home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2. His nickname? The 'King of Bosnia'
3. Teletovic spent six years playing for Spanish power Caja Laboral in the ACB League, where he was named Spanish King's Cup MVP in 2009 and an ACB First-Teamer in 2012
4. In his spare time, Teletovic enjoys drinking Turkish coffee and talking about 'general subjects' with his family. (Nets Daily)
5. This year, he'll share the court with fellow Mostar, Bosnia native Bojan Bogdanovic.
Check out Teletovic's photos and video in the LEAGUE section of NBA Game Time.
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