“Now, this (was) in the ’70s. So I know there are players out there. So, in ’88, my first year, when Larry (Brown) brought me in as an assistant, I asked Bob Bass, who was the GM, I want to go to Cologne, Germany, to see the Final Four in Europe. Imagine, you walk into the food room. The only other NBA coach who’s there is Don Nelson (then with the Warriors), trying to sign Šarūnas (Marčiulionis). “I’m scrambling around. Here’s this Yugoslavian team. (Vlade) Divac is the center. Dino Radja is the four man. (Zarko) Paspalj is the three man. (Toni) Kukoč is 18 and is the sixth man coming off the bench. (Drazen) Petrović. My gosh, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And nobody knew those guys. Except Nellie. I was busting my butt to try and get Sarunas. At the time, I was a Soviet Studies major, so I could speak Russian halfway decent then. I’d go to his room, I’d go here, I’d go there. And then, he finally said, ‘I already told Nellie that I’m coming (to Golden State).’ So, he went, I brought Zarko back. Believe it or not, Zarko and his wife and their daughter lived with me the entire year in my house.” -via New York Times / May 3, 2025