Dr. Noah Charney:  Hello, welcome, and dobrodošli to Feel Slovenia the Podcast. In each episode, we will explore what I have called the world's best country, meeting locals, traveling, eating, and getting to know the very best of Slovenia.  This podcast is written and hosted by me, Dr. Noah Charney, and is brought to you by the Slovenian Tourist Board. 

Welcome to this exclusive podcast interview with the legendary Goran Dragić.  After a stellar 15-year NBA career, Goran recently announced his retirement, leaving behind an inspiring legacy as one of Europe's most accomplished basketball players.  Today, we're thrilled to catch up with him in his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he's taking some well-deserved time to reconnect with his roots.

In this episode, Goran reflects on his journey from a young kid dreaming big in Ljubljana, to playing alongside the NBA's best, and leading the Slovenian national team to European glory. He also recently hosted a stellar lineup of basketball stars for a special retirement party in the form of a friendly game played in Ljubljana.

That meant that the Hoops World was focused on Slovenia's capital and that lots of stars were enjoying their first trip to Slovenia. We'll dive into the highs, the challenges and what's next for him now that he's stepped away from the game. Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear Goran as he shares insights on his career, his homecoming, and what he recommends to friends, including NBA stars, when they visit Slovenia. 

So, Goran, thank you so much for taking some time to speak with us. I'm going to ask the basketball questions first, and then we'll get to the really difficult questions about traveling in Slovenia.

Goran Dragić: You can travel with the bike.

Dr. Noah Charney:  Maybe the next stage of your career. 

Goran Dragić: Yeah, especially would be good for my knees. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, you scored 12, 658 points in your career. I know points are like your kids. You're not allowed to have a favourite, but do you have a favourite one, two or three points that you scored?

Goran Dragić: That's a good question. Probably the first point that I scored in NBA and let's say the last one. 

Dr. Noah Charney: Can you walk me through each one? Like what was the situation? 

Goran Dragić: So the first one was back in the day, 2008, when I was playing for Phoenix Suns and I remember at that time I was really not ready, I was a young kid who had a lot of troubles with confidence and it takes some time to get used to that level of playing and it was one play, so I stole the ball or something like that. It was transition, fast break and it was an easy layup. So, it was nothing special, nothing crazy, but, you know, it's always unique when you score your first point in NBA and, and then if I'm honest, I don't even remember my last point in NBA.

Dr. Noah Charney: This was following leading into my other question. You mentioned you maybe stole the ball and did the layup in the fast break for the first one. Of all of the actions you can complete as a basketball player. Is there one that's the most satisfying, whether it's a stelar dunk three pointer? 

Goran Dragić: I would say when you make a good assist, of course, I was not a traditional point guard. I was more like a combo guard. I could score, I could pass. But at the end of the day, when you pass the ball to somebody else, I always say two guys are happy: me with the assist and the guy who scored the point. But of course, you have some points that I scored that were really big points, especially when you score game winners, or just in playoffs, every game is so important that it's really unique because everybody's playing so hard. 

Dr. Noah Charney:  I'm curious also during your career or now, do you ever collect your own memorabilia or playing cards? Or is this something that fans do? The players don't really do it. 

Goran Dragić: If I'm honest, I don't, but my mom she collects every newspaper article or cards or even the, the small books that you get before the game. It's basically like a pregame, a small book that is basically statistics. And I remember my mom, she was collecting those a lot, but not me. I was a kid, when I started this journey, first time that I was in newspaper, you cut out your photo and then I put it in the wall and after a while I stopped doing it because when you're a professional athlete, if you read a lot of articles or about a lot of comments about people, then you kind of get lost in there. It can be distracting. It's not good. 

Dr. Noah Charney: But this collection sounds amazing. Is there going to be the Mama Dragić Museum at some point?

Goran Dragić: Probably. It's probably valuable. She could sell it and retire to Florida. You know, that's actually pretty good because all jerseys or t shirts, we usually give that to somebody for auctions and for good cause. So, that's good. But I, I think my mom, she's so protective of those stuff because it's a big part of my history and family's history.  She did an amazing job. I have to admit. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, you mentioned giving your jerseys to auctions for charity and you're quite active with charities. I wanted to ask you, at what point did you shift to being philanthropic, working proactively with charities, and how did you pick which ones you would want to work with?

Goran Dragić: I always had that idea to do something good, especially for the environment that I'm coming from, but it was tough because, when I was playing, you travel a lot, then you got family, I didn't have enough time to do all this stuff, but now it's much easier. Now I'm retired. I have a plenty of time, I can do a lot of stuff. The first thing was to help young girls and boys to have my basketball camp, that was number one. And then during the basketball camp and different event, we tried to raise a lot of money and donate wheelchairs for the basketball. I used to work with my mom. She worked in a book factory. Great. So 70 percent of the employees were handicapped people. When I was at young age, when I was 13, 14 years old, I was already in that environment and it really affected me and I said, why not, and then when I found out that one wheelchair is 10, 000 euros. How can those people afford that and it's just for basketball. And I said, let's start something there. And then basketball courts and so on and so on. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, I'm interested in the conditions for children to engage in sports in Slovenia and how it differs from abroad. And maybe you could talk about what the differences are and what the pluses are for kids here. 

Goran Dragić: You know, it's all coming to finances basically, the venues that they're practicing or opportunities are way different in the States than here. If I go a little bit further, if you look at the high school or colleges in the US, it's such a good system because those schools, they have everything. They have gyms, pools, like all infrastructure for the kids to have the best possible condition to, to follow their dreams. You know, here is a little bit different. If you want to be a professional athlete, you have to go away from school. You have to go to clubs. And then, sometimes, especially at a young age, when you're 14, 15 years old, that's a problem because it's really tough. You have to practice twice a day. Then you're on a travel team, so you're away from home a lot. Then you have to do school at the same time.  That's really hard, especially for young athletes. And in U. S. it's the opposite because, when you play basketball, soccer, whatever sport it is, it's inside the school system. That's much easier. You can do school and play sports at the same time. And that's something really unique. And I really like this model for the kids. But every country is different. But what is unique that, If I look at the NBA right now, you have so many international players that they're the best in the league. So, you can say the systems are working for some, to some degree.  But yeah, in Slovenia, you know, it could be better. It's tough, we are a nation that is only 2 millions, but we are really, really big in sports. 

Dr. Noah Charney: I was thinking how badass would the Yugoslav basketball team be now?  Can we get us, get it back together?  

Goran Dragić: That would be a great battle between us and U. S. 

Dr. Noah Charney:That seems like some American network should fire that up for the ratings, if nothing else. That seems like a good idea. 

Goran Dragić: That would be crazy. 

Dr. Noah Charney:Would you come back out of retirement for one game? 

Goran Dragić: Oh, definitely. I would. I would. 

Dr. Noah Charney: What would your dream lineup be? Is that like the worst question anybody can ask you? Cause then anyone you don't mention is going to send you an angry text message. So, you should retract it. 

Goran Dragić: Not really, but you know, fans, they have a lot to say. So, sometimes you forget somebody or something and fans get crazy mad. But for me, you know, definitely Dražen Petrović. I mean,  Luka, you have to put Luka, you know, what he's doing, what kind of numbers he's putting up, it's unbelievable.

Dr. Noah Charney: Jokić isn't bad. 

Goran Dragić: Oh, of course, man. Three times MVP, you put Jokić. So, then you have to have position four.  Position four, let's put Toni Kukoč.

Dr. Noah Charney: Okay, great. 

Goran Dragić: And, so three.  Uh, it's quite a big lineup, you know, I would put Luke as a one because he's a great bar handler and he can create for others. Three,  let's put Predrag Danilo.  

Dr. Noah Charney: This is one I'm not familiar with. Yes. So, this was my homework. 

Goran Dragić: Okay. So, Predrag Danilović. He used to play for Yugoslavia and then from Serbia. He was my idol when I was growing up and he was really a unique player. He played for Kinder, Bologna, won many EuroLeagues, and then he even played in the NBA for Miami Heat. He was really tough. And he was a mentor of Raša Nesterovič, and I really like his passion and how he was playing the game. So that's why I would put him in.

Dr. Noah Charney: That's awesome. And so, are you the six’s man of the year for the team? Is that the plan?

Goran Dragić:  I can be, yeah, I don't care as long as I'm in the team, in the top 12. 

Dr. Noah Charney: You recently had this great farewell game in Ljubljana. And people are still talking about it and that sounds like hyperbole, but it's actually true. People said it was just great. It was really a cool experience for them as fans. What was it like for you?

Goran Dragić: If I'm honest, it was a lot of work. We started working on this project one year before. It was a lot of stuff to do. I was a little bit worried at the beginning because you don't know what the future holds and who's going to show up. And, but in the end, it was an unbelievable event. I was really happy with all the stuff, especially with my team, because those guys that they were working 24/7 and they had a lot of obstacles to overcome and it was amazing. And now when I look back, I would not do it again,  but I'm really proud. You know how everything played out and I had a lot of good feedback, especially from the people from U. S. from all over the Europe. And, I think we kind of a started some trend for the basketball players who are going to retire. That's really a model that you can follow. You can raise a lot of money, whatever the cause is. And it was really unique and beautiful.  

Dr. Noah Charney: So, you had a lot of friends come to Slovenia, many of them for the first time. I'm curious, what did you either show them yourself or recommend that they see? 

Goran Dragić: I just wanted to show them our culture, to kind of enjoy different parts of Slovenia. You know, some players, they went to Bled, some went to the coast, then they were walking around Ljubljana and everybody was really amazed what kind of beautiful place it is. I always joke around, most of those people, they didn't know we're Slovenia  is, they thought we still don't have cars, that we still have horses and carriages… But let's put a joke on the side. They really liked it and everybody was saying they're going to come back and and explore a little bit more, especially this part, you know, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. You know, everybody knows Italy, Croatia, Austria, but most of the Americans, they don't know about Slovenia. Of course, probably right now because of Luka and Melanie, Melania Trump, they got a lot of exposure, but… 

Dr. Noah Charney: This leads me to one of my questions. So, there's two sides to this question. I'm wondering how, first, how has the popularity of basketball changed in Slovenia since you were a child? And I'm specifically seeing you for starters, and now Luka have really elevated the interest in basketball, but what was it like when you were growing up and how is it different now in Slovenia? And then I'll ask the reverse question of the U. S. 

Goran Dragić: It was huge. Basketball was always a huge part of Slovenian culture, especially back in the day when I was a kid, we have a strong Union Olimpija, they, they competed in EuroLeague. They were one of the best teams. I remember as a kid, I would go to Tivoli and watch those games. Right now, I think we elevate the basketball on another level, but  I would not say the club level, but the national team level, we had a couple of really successful years, especially winning the gold. And then a few years later, qualifying for Olympic games. But that was a really big thing for our country. But I feel like the club level, it's a little bit dropping, Olimpija is not at that level anymore that it was back in the day, but hopefully we can grow the league and grow the interest of this sport and the young kids, they follow their dreams. Every year, we produce some good quality players. But for that you need a strong league, foundation, that they can rely on and be successful. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, they don't have to go abroad to play. What about for, for younger kids, seeing you and your success, I imagine inspired more children to play basketball than was then before, or was it always popular even when you were growing up?

Goran Dragić: No, it was always, it was always popular. You know, I do believe in every kid's girl, boy, if you, if you have idols that makes your job a little bit easier because you want to be like them, you follow your dreams. That's how I started,you know, going to, uh, Tivoli, watch those games. And then when I was 11 years old, I met Rašo Nesterovič.  At that time, he was playing for Minnesota Timberwolves. And I remember those moments I was passing him a ball and I had those big eyes and I was saying that I want to be him.  And then, when you have idols, it's much easier. You set a goal that you follow. I think that's important. And now, of course we got Luka, most of the kids, they watch Luka. And I think that's really a strong message that you're sending, especially, you have to be careful too, because when you have such an impact on the young generation, you have to know what are you doing. Everybody is watching you, so you have to behave. You have to be a role model. You should not be on the wrong path, you have to set an example for those young kids. And Luka is that. 

Dr. Noah Charney: Looking in the other direction, since you, as a Slovenian who's been playing in the U.S. How has that increased Americans awareness of Slovenia, if it has, I feel like our athletes are our best ambassadors, whether it's you guys playing basketball or, um, or our cyclists, for example, or Janja Garnbret. And have you noticed a difference, for example, with journalists switching questions like what is this Slovenia country to something that shows that they actually know it? 

Goran Dragić:  I do agree with you about, sports in general, athletes are the best ambassador for Slovenia, you know, Tadej Pogačar, Roglič, Anže Kopitar, Luka Dončić, Janja Garnbret, I probably I  should mention a few more. They always associate, especially the people with sports and, when I I talked with somebody from the U.S., they always say, oh, Tadej Pogačar, he's from Slovenia. But then I always ask him the question, do you know where Slovenia is? And most of the people, they don't know, but yeah, it's unique, I think sports, sports bring people together. If I look back, I have so many friends from all over the world and if I go to their country, I can call them and go for a coffee. And that's really unique, especially in sports, because sports world is really small. And that's something awesome.

Dr. Noah Charney: So, I asked what you recommended to your friends who came for just a short period of time for your farewell game. What about if you have friend who's come to Slovenia for a week. What itinerary might you recommend?

Goran Dragić: I mean, definitely go to Goriška Brda and try some Slovenian wine and cuisine. Then go to Piran, Postojna Cave, Lake Bled.  Then maybe, it depends when they are here in Slovenia, probably one of the most interesting things to do is go to Ptuj and see Kurenti, especially when they areputting a winter behind us and the parade, that's something unique. But just in general, explore, you know, Ljubljana is a nice city. We had a lot of history, so people are really surprised how beautiful it is, how clean it is, how we nurture our country, especially a lot of greens, forest  and just in general beauty of Slovenia. I think we should promote that more. You can see each year you have more and more tourists from different parts of the world and that's great. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, this is a slight variation on that question, so I just asked about what you recommend to friends who have maybe never been to Slovenia. Now, when you come home, are there some things that you can't wait to do that aren't touristy things, but are just things you enjoy? Is there like a favourite burek you have to eat? Or a favourite hike. 

Goran Dragić: When I get back, I like to spend time with my family, with my friends. And then when I'm with my friends, we go and play pedal. Then after pedal, we go out to the city. And then, usually, If we are out three or four in the morning, we always go and finish with Burek Olimpija.

Dr. Noah Charney: I was gonna say Olimpija.

Goran Dragić: Yeah. That's our favourite spot. But just in general, I like to spend time in in Koseze,  usually we go there, um, to have some coffee at Lokus. But on in general, different stuff. It depends on the mood. Yeah, sure. Uh, but most of the time I hang out with my friends, family, mom, for me, it doesn't matter where we are as long as I'm with them.

Dr. Noah Charney:  If we look back at Eurobasket, and the difference in the dynamics between the national team and the professional team, for fans, we kind of expect everybody to play at a super high level in both. But I imagine. The limited amount of time you get to be on the court practicing with your international teammates can make it trickier.  Can you talk through what the differences are in the dynamic? I'm interested socially as well as in terms of playing. 

Goran Dragić: Yeah, it's a huge difference. First of all, you're playing for your flag, for your country, so that's gonna spark a little bit more, you know, it's more personal to you.  Um, then most of those players because you were growing up with them or you have some connection with them. Uou know, their families, you know, their friends. So that's something that really important, especially when you're on the floor that you can connect with them. So, when you play for Slovenia, for national team, that's a little bit more personal, passionate, just in general, you care more, I would say. But then when you play for a club, this is your job.  Of course, you have more time, you prepare for the whole season. So, you're spending a whole year with your teammates, with your families. But then, next year it could be a completely different team because in professional sports you change team more often than a national team. So that's really the difference basically. You’re prouder when you play for your nation, for your people. You cannot compare national team and club. 

Dr. Noah Charney: Are there any behind the scenes stories you can share about the national team experience or your win? Some like funny behind the scenes stories that won’t get anyone in trouble. 

Goran Dragić: It's plenty of them. You know, for example, 2017.  Before the EuroBasket, we were preparing two months with the team. And at that time, we had one tournament in Tel Aviv, in Israel. And that was one week before the EuroBasket and we lost against Turkey. We were really in bad shape and we got blown away by Turkey by 20 points and the other team was beating us too. So, it's kind of a bad vibe going. And I remember Igor Kokoškov at that time, he was like, G, you as a captain, you should take out the team because we need to relax. We need to forget about those two games. So, that was the first time that in national team that I was a part of, the whole 12 players went out. We went out, we went to the club, we had a good time. You know, you drink, you enjoy the time. And I would say that was the moment that everybody became a team. Because, from that point on, we hang out 24/7. That particular year, all 12 players, we were doing stuff together, playing cards. We go out, when we have lunch or breakfasts, we were all together. Everybody was enjoying the time. That's why we create such a dynamic on the floor and off the floor. Because of that, we probably won the gold medal because the connection with it. The whole time we had some challenges on our way, but that's what makes it special.

Dr. Noah Charney: In terms of logistics of running plays and knowing where your teammates are going to be on the court, is it trickier with the international team and with your national team is everybody so familiar from their pro careers that it's just a matter of shifting it over?

Goran Dragić: Everybody knows how to play basketball. At the end of the day, the most important thing is how to have spacing on the floor and it doesn't matter if you're on different actions. On the end, everybody knows, you know, if I play pick and roll to the right, this guy on the left corner has to shift up. So it's all about reading the situations and all these players, basketball has been a part of their lives for most of their time. It's not a huge problem, but you do have to, when you put new plays, you do have to be on the same page and, you know, like you mentioned before, when you play for national team, you only have two months of preparation and usually that's something unique because if you go on a tournament,  when you get out of the group stages, if you lose one game, then you're out, you know, when you play the league, you can lose many, many games and be still, still be successful because it's a long season. So that's a huge difference. 

Dr. Noah Charney: So, we just finished up the Olympics and you were a guest at the Slovenian house in Paris. I'm interested in which Slovenian athletes or teams particularly impressed you during the Olympics. 

Goran Dragić:  Janja, Janja, for sure. I just had a dinner last night with her. She's amazing. I was always impressed with her. She won a gold medal for us in Paris and in Tokyo. And what's fascinating, she's only 25. She won everything. And she’s a really nice person. Then, of course, I know most of the guys from handball. From volleyball. Just, you know, I was never a part of Olympics. I was there as a guest and it was a really unique experience. I think that people in Paris, they did an amazing job with the Olympics, and I was really blown away, especially the venues, the organization, just about everything. And, I would love to, if I had to change something in my past that I would play with Slovenia national team in the Olympics. We did that in Tokyo, but it was a COVID year. Everything was kind of a strange. So, I would not  go back that year, but maybe years before.

Dr. Noah Charney: Okay. Last two questions for you. You live mostly in the U. S. What do you miss about Slovenia when you're over there?

Goran Dragić: I miss my family, my parents, my friends. I miss the food. Burek.  We got burek in Miami. It's not the same though, but you know, I can live with that burek over there. But, it's different lifestyle over there. Slovenia is always going to be my home and I miss hanging out with my friends and just in general, it's been a blessing that I could, have two homes, Miami and in Ljubljana. I have a lot of friends over there too, but of course, here I speny most of the time as a child. So, this is something special.

Dr. Noah Charney: Last question for you, Goran. How do you hope to be remembered by both your Slovenian and international fans when they, 20 years from now, they remember Goran Dragic. What's the memory? 

Goran Dragić: I always say that the most important thing for me that they recognize me that I give everything what I got on the floor. That I was playing a hundred percent. I was playing tough. It doesn't matter about the numbers about anything else. But, you know, if they ever mentioned my name, well, he was tough, he played hard, he played with passion. And I think that's the most important thing because at the end of the day, athletes, they connect with some people, you know, so that's all part of life. For me, I was really lucky that I achieved my dreams. I was working hard, but at the same time, it was a  tremendous privilege to be part of the basketball community, especially here in Slovenia, in the States and NBA, because you know, that was always my goal as a kid. 

Dr. Noah Charney: That's beautiful. So, thank you for your career. Thank you for being such a good guy.  And then, we'll do another interview when the Yugoslav basketball team. 

Goran Dragić: You know, I was talking with my friends. We need to start doing some podcasts. So, we'll hook you up.  

Dr. Noah Charney: Dragić is nicknamed the Dragon, which is fitting since the green dragon is the symbol of his hometown. What a treat it was to spend some time with a star I'm used to cheering for on TV. He turned out to be so kind, down to earth, and easy to speak with that we kept on chatting long after the interview. Meeting a hero is all the better when your hero turns out to be a genuinely good person. You can follow Dragić's activities on social media, including his admirable charitable work and see what excitement he'll fire up next.

Hvala and thank you for listening to Feel Slovenia the podcast.  This podcast is brought to you by the Slovenian Tourist Board and was written and presented by Dr. Noah Charney.  Please subscribe to get each new episode and tell all of your friends interested in travel and all things Slovenia.  If you'd like to learn more, visit slovenia.info.  For more information, you're welcome to follow our social media channels, Feel Slovenia on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TripAdvisor.