LOS ANGELES – High above the University of Southern California basketball practice court, a place where Nikola Vucevic used to hone his skills and dream about playing in the NBA, hangs a banner showing a baby-faced big man backing down a foe in the post.
That banner is one of several in the gymnasium highlighting some of the great players who played collegiately for the Trojans and went on to reach the NBA. Each time Vucevic and his Orlando Magic return to the facility to practice prior to games against either the Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers, the center originally from Montenegro takes time out to peer up at that banner and almost always he’s hit with a flood of memories from his time at USC.