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Clippers center Ivica Zubac warms up prior to a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 4, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)
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Clippers center Ivica Zubac warms up prior to a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 4, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)
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INGLEWOOD — Mention the ESPN interview and Ivica Zubac rolls his eyes, shakes his head and mutters something about how terrible it was, even days later.
Yet, the Clippers center kept his gaze at the interviewer, didn’t stumble over his words and ended it by smiling. He even good-naturedly corrected the reporter’s pronunciation of his name, a mistake many make.
To avoid any mistakes, the team created shirts with the correct pronunciation: “EE-vee-tsah ZOO-bahts.”
All in all, Zubac, by nature an introvert, seemed at ease on camera even if he didn’t feel like it. But the 7-foot Croatian had better get used to the attention and ever-increasing bright spotlight that follows his every spin move.
Zubac, 28, is enjoying the best season of his nine-year NBA career, earning league-wide praise for his improved play this season. He is being mentioned prominently for All-Defensive team honors and in Defensive Player of the Year conversations.
And to increase awareness of their durable, strong-armed center, the Clippers are making a push to get Zubac votes as the 2025 DPOY, touting his 59 double-doubles (tied for second with Denver’s Nikola Jokic for most in the league). He also is averaging 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game while shooting 62.8% from the field.
Zubac recorded his first career triple-double last week with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in 35 minutes against the Houston Rockets. The 10 assists also marked a new career-best.
“I mean, I would love it. I like playing defense,” he said. “I like helping guys out, talking on the defense, rebounding. I like shot blocking. So, getting rewarded like that, I would love it. But even if I don’t get it, I don’t really pay too much attention to it. As long as we’re playing good and we’re winning games, that’s all that matters.”
And the Clippers (50-32) are winning, having notched 18 victories in their past 21 games. They head into the Western Conference playoffs as the No. 5 seed and will face the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets (50-32) in a best-of-seven first-round series that begins Saturday afternoon in Denver.
The series will pit Zubac against Jokic, the three-time league MVP. What was a mismatch in the Western Conference semifinals five years ago (when a 23-year-old Zubac was often played off the court) is now a matchup of two of the game’s best centers.
On a team that boasts two clear superstars in Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, Zubac has elbowed his way into a share of the limelight this season. Always a presence on the court, especially in the paint, his elevated play is gaining believers.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst started his interview with Zubac by telling him he was calling him the Clippers’ “star center.” Zubac doesn’t shy from the moniker.
“I want to be one of the best rim protectors in the league and I’ve been wanting to do it for a while,” Zubac said earlier this season. “… Coming into the season, I saw the numbers and I wanted to get better in that aspect of the game. And just understanding my positioning, how I can contest the shot wherever I can and that’s it.”
Zubac has been helped considerably by his on-court partnership with Harden, who joined the Clippers early last season. Their pick-and-roll chemistry, having been developed over the course of extra practices, is among the league’s best.
“When you have James spoon feeding you (it helps),” Rockets coach Ime Udoke said. “Those guys are good. James does complement a lot of bigs and he’s a big part of that obviously, but defensively he (Zubac) has improved.
“I think he’s becoming what they thought they got years ago. Obviously Kawhi and James get a lot of the credit, but what he’s doing is very impressive.”
Harden called Zubac underrated.
“He understands the game, the game has slowed down a lot for him to where he understands who he’s playing against and who he’s guarding and so he’s effective on both ends of the ball,” Harden said. “You know, for guys like me my job is just trying to make it easy for him … to get him touches. But he’s worked his butt off.”
Zubac said the biggest change this season has been his increased confidence that has come with additional minutes. Zubac saw more minutes and a bigger role in the offense during Leonard’s delayed return from lingering knee issues.
He is playing an average of 6.4 more minutes in 2024-25 than last season.
“His play as far as offensively, like I say, he’s gotten better and better each year and now we trust him with the basketball in his hands against double-teams, against bigger players, he’s making the right play,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“Defensively, we’ve asked him to do different coverages, multiple coverages every night. He understands the rotation of what he’s doing and so he has improved every year. It’s just good to see.”
Zubac downplays his rise on the statistical charts, calling it a normal progression. Last season, he averaged 11.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks; now he is turning in the best numbers of his career.
“It’s what I expect from myself, getting better every year and the progression from last season and I expect to make another step next year,” Zubac said.
Clippers backup point guard Bogdan Bogdanovic has known Zubac since their young adult days playing in the EuroLeague, when neither of them was a household name outside of his own household.
The two have clicked on the court, this season, bonded by their Balkan roots.
“I think everybody didn’t have any expectations of him even coming to the NBA or anything,” Bogdanovic said of Zubac. “But he took the small steps and just believing in small steps and that’s why he’s here right now.”
Here among the best in the league.
SERIES SCHEDULE
(Best-of-seven, all times PT)
Game 1: Saturday, at Denver, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN, FSDN SoCal)
Game 2: Monday, at Denver, 7 p.m. (TNT, FSDN SoCal)
Game 3: Thurs., April 24, at L.A., time TBD (NBA TV, FSDN SoCal)
Game 4: Sat., April 26 at L.A., 3 p.m. (TV TBD, FSDN SoCal)
*Game 5: Tues., April 29, at Denver, time TBD (TV TBD, FSDN SoCal)
*Game 6: Thurs., May 1 at L.A., time TBD (TV TBD, FSDN SoCal)
*Game 7: Sat., May 3 at Denver, time TBD (TV TBD)
* – If necessary
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