Mirza Teletovic: "I’m going to prove some stuff"

Back in 2006, Zoran Planincic asked out of his Nets contract so he could return to Europe. He paid $150,000 to buy out his contract and headed to Spain where he played with Mirza Teletovic on Tau Ceramica, now Caja Laboral.

Stefan Bondy asked Teletovic last night if he is tempted to do the same thing. Teletovic was quite firm that despite his problems adjusting to life in the NBA, he isn't going anywhere near Europe (unless of course the Nets train or play there next year, both of which have been rumored.)

"No," he said flatly when Bondy asked about going back to Europe, where Teletovic was last season’s leading scorer of the Euroleague. "Never going to happen. I’m going to prove some stuff."

Teletovic's model is not Planincic but another Croatian --and former Net-- who succeed after a tough start ... Drazen Petrovic.

"The first year I know a lot of European players who came over, even many years before, even the first guys that came over from Yugoslavia -- we have a legend who has his jersey retired and he didn’t play at all," Teletovic told Bondy.

• On the end of Brooklyn's bench, Mirza Teletovic says he's not returning to Europe: "Never going to happen." - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News