How Nets’ top pick has thrived, despite always being youngest
At just 19, Dzanan Musa is the second-youngest player in Nets history. But that’s old hat for him.
From living on his own at age 11 to turning pro at 15 to becoming a national hero in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina a year later, Musa is used to being the youngest.
And that’s what is going to help this kid from the small town of Bihac adjust to big-city life in Brooklyn.
“Yes, of course. When I left home at 11, I went to Sarajevo. … You get tougher, especially with me alone since I was 11. That was really a tough time for me and I really struggled a lot,” Musa told The Post recently in a interview on Brooklyn’s Coney Island boardwalk.
“But that helped set my mindset into something else: basketball. Not to think about other things, about drinking, going out, having fun; just about basketball. That really helped me a lot. … You had to do your laundry, to go to colleges to go eat, to be right on schedule. Everything is about the discipline.”
While ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report all had Musa in their Top 20 in the recent NBA draft, he fell to the Nets at No. 29 because his youth had him seen by many as a stash pick. While he still has to fill out his lean 6-foot-9 frame and round out his scoring-minded game, the Nets are convinced his experience will offset his age.
“I’d think so. It’s added to his makeup and the dynamic when you come to a borough like Brooklyn,” said GM Sean Marks. “He’s traveled, he’s been on his own from a young age and basketball is what he knows. Those are things we hope will translate as he makes the adjustment to Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn is bigger than Musa expected, so he’ll bring his brother Dzennis and sister-in-law along. (“I’m tired of walking into an apartment and it’s empty.”) But as he stood with Bosnia 4,500 miles behind him and the Coney Island Cyclone roller-coaster before him, he seemed up to the adjustment.
He averaged 23 points at the 2014 U16 Euros to win MVP and lift Bosnia and Herzegovina to its first gold. He returned home to hoist the trophy before a celebration of 50,000, helping bring racial healing in a country that needed it.
“He’s very dynamic. His offensive skills are pretty special,” Marks said of Musa, who averaged 22.8 points in European pre-qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. That national team is where he met, clashed with and was befriended by ex-Net Mirza Teletovic.
“We talk a lot. Every second day he’s calling to ask is everything OK, do I need something?” said Musa. “Right away, like five minutes from (getting drafted) the call was with his number.
see also Nets make Bosnian scoring machine their first-round pick On draft night in their building, the Nets picked a...
“He said it’s going to be tough, a whole different world than Europe. You have to just stay humble. With hard work, your talent will go into the light. I know you love basketball. I’ll support you. … He was like a father, and I respect him a lot.”
As fathers and teens often do, they clashed early. In a Eurobasket 2017 qualifier versus Russia, Musa got in the face of ex-Net Timofey Mozgov, who outweighed him by nearly 100 pounds. After Musa got elbowed by former Net Sergey Karasev on the next play, he went down with a flop that Teletovic vehemently chastised him for.
But in the end, Teletovic apologized and both have grown close.
“After that, he knew I have that personality, that heart, that I want to win,” said Musa. “He was just like me. Game recognizes game. We respect each other a lot.”
Maybe that’s why Nets teammate D’Angelo Russell has taken Musa under his wing. They’ve been practicing from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a half-dozen other Nets.
“D’Angelo called me to his house, to play games, to hang around,” Musa said. “It was very generous of him. I’m glad I have teammates like him. I’m ready to put everything that it takes to be the best. So whatever it takes. I really mean it. … When I went at the age of 11 from home, I’m doing everything that it takes to become the best.”