“Losing games, it’s hard for everybody,” he said. “I’m sick to be part of losing team. Inside me, I don’t like to lose. … I know here they think you play for yourself, you’ve got a long career in front of you. I can’t do it. I can’t play for myself. I want to play for something. I want to play for playoffs.”
Kahn called a player selected before Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in 2003 “traumatized” and “distraught” about his NBA career and said, “He sees this latest trade as just one more incident that has befallen him.”
“It’s not just somebody else’s fault,” Milicic said. “It was my fault, too. I can’t just talk about other people screwing me up. I try to make the best of it here. See what happens the rest of the season and then decide what I’m going to do. Am I really going to go back to Europe or maybe something good happens here.”
“I thought it was exceptional for [Darko]. He received a warm reception, and the fans appreciated how he played, the style of ball that he brings to us. Even a chance to get him back in the ball game, those are all strong messages to him, he’s appreciated and wanted here. His teammates saw a little bit of how to play with him. He’s going to be somebody everybody is going to want to play with, just cause of his capabilities and his strengths. He looked like he was having fun and enjoyed playing out there,” head coach Kurt Rambis said.
“I’m excited to play again,” said Milicic, who hasn’t played since the Knicks’ game against the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 13. “I don’t know what my confidence level is. I’m in pretty bad shape right now. It will take me some time. I just want to make myself comfortable in the game and not rush things.”
I don’t know whether it says more about the Wolves, that they’d trade for and play Darko at this point, or about Darko, that it’s notably hilarious that a team would do this for him. I’m flummoxed, I must say.