ESPN's 'Finding Darko' To Air Sunday Morning
DETROIT -- Do you ever wonder what happened to Darko Milicic? If so, than ESPN has a story you'll enjoy.
E:60, ESPN's weekly in-depth feature reporting show on Sunday mornings, will air a special piece this week on one of the NBA's biggest busts and where he is now. The video story, titled Finding Darko, takes a deeper look into Milicic's brief career with the Detroit Pistons and how his life has changed for the better now that his basketball career is over.
The show airs at 9 a.m. on Sunday on ESPN.
Sam Borden of ESPN is the author of the story, and said Milicic has taken full responsibility for his NBA career failures and acknowledges his mistakes.
"In terms of his own career, he takes full responsibility," Borden said during a SportsCenter interview on Friday. "He looks back and he says 'I was the one that messed up, I was the one that hurt myself' as opposed to blaming it on somebody else, which I found kind of remarkable."
Milicic was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, only behind LeBron James and ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. As many know, Milicic never panned out in his three seasons in Detroit, averaging only 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 5.8 minutes across 96 games with the Pistons.
"I thought I'm the one, I'm the one," Milicic said during a preview of the episode. "I have to be one of the best in the league, I have to be an All-Star (and that) I didn't have to work. I'd come drunk to the practices trying to be a bad boy and stuff, and all the things I did, I did to me."
Since moving back to Serbia, Milicic has become a successful apple farmer. Borden said he is hoping to move on to cherry farming next year, which is considered an upgrade in the market.
"He's an apple farmer now and his big life ambition for the moment is selling cherries," Borden said. "He says that apples are going really well for him, selling them all over Africa and parts of eastern Europe, but cherries is the market he's trying to get into next."
There's also a written story from Borden currently on ESPN on Milicic.
