Darko was the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2003, the same year LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh were selected.
Milicic was drafted by Pistons general manager Joe Dumars, the architect of a Detroit Pistons team that went to six straight Eastern Conference Finals and won the 2004 NBA title.
Two decades later, fans still can't believe Dumars' selection, and neither can Milicic, who is now a farmer in his native Serbia and a former kickboxer.
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Milicic was the consensus No. 2 prospect that season among the majority of NBA scouts and teams, but he didn't realize how coveted he was, according to a recent report from TalkSport.com.
Milicic was praised by legendary Pistons scout Will Robinson but was so out of shape he struggled with breathing and didn't think he would get drafted, let alone be among the top three picks in the entire draft.
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"I suffered. I couldn't breathe, it was chaos," Milicic said.
"I remember that workout, they carried me, they carried me. I couldn't breathe after dribbling through two halfcourts.
"I thought, 'Look, these guys, no, they won't take me, they won't draft me."
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Milicic was told by a Pistons representative that he would be taken ahead of Anthony, Bosh and other top prospects. He still can't believe he was thought of so highly by the Pistons.
"Those (top picks) are legends, those are the kings," Milicic said. "I thought they wouldn't even draft me, not that they would give me a guarantee."
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Milicic said he was overconfident as a teenager in the NBA and thought too highly of himself, according to an interview in the Serbian newspaper Blic .
"So I got into fights, got drunk before practice, spit on people, but I actually spit on myself. My goal was not to please others but my ego.
"I thought I was perfect. I screwed up. ... All I did was talk. I was just talking all the time. Had I worked as much as I talked, I'd still be playing basketball."
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Milicic was eventually traded to the Orlando Magic after scoring less than two points per game with the Pistons in 96 games. He offered words of advice for young players entering the NBA in 2024.
"You can't go into the NBA at 18 and think you're the smartest," Milicic said. "They'll devour you. You have to work. That's what they expected of me. I went to a championship-caliber team and didn't respect them."
"I always did the opposite of what was expected of me. I thought no one was capable of telling me what to do. I had my own way. So, no one was there to tell me, 'Darko, stop! What you're doing is not good for you.' It was all my fault."
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