BILATERAL RELATIONS USA - SLOVENIA

Leon Štukelj

Tomaž Humar - El Capitan

Slovene Basketball Players in NBA

Marko Milič

Born on May 7, 1977, in Kranj. Height: 198 cm. His mother, Metka Papler, was a national record holder for discus and his father, Vladimir Milič, an Olympian for the former Yugoslavia in shot putting.

Marko played for Triglav, Kranj, and transferred to Olimpija when he was 17. With the Olimpija team he made his way into the Final Four tournament of the European league in 1997. Jumping over a Honda and dunking at the All Stars game in the Slovene league contributed to his fame. The footage of this venture impressed the Americans, as they played it frequently.

In the fall of 1997 he left for the NBA. He first joined the Philadelphia 76ers and in the middle of the season signed with the Phoenix Suns. Due to the NBA lock-out he played in the European league for Fenerbahce from Istanbul in the fall of 1998 and returned to Phoenix when the NBA strike came to an end.

At the moment, he is not under contract and is looking for a new team in the NBA.

Marko Milič is the first Slovene to play in the NBA. His teammates from Olimpija Vladimir Stepania (Seattle SuperSonics) and Radoslav Nesterovič (Minnesota Timberwolves) followed his example this year.

Boris Gorenc

Born on December 3, 1973. Height: 196 cm. A member of the Olimpija team for many years. Having played in France, he was with the Chicago Bulls at the McDonald's tournament in the fall of 1997. The then team also included Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. He did not sign up with the Chicago Bulls but continued his career in Italy.