Nets’ Terance Mann Was Once Recruited to Play for Croatia by Ivica Zubac

Four of the Brooklyn Nets' five first-round picks from the 2025 NBA Draft have experience either representing their home country or playing for their national teams. Brooklyn's international connections are strong as is, but another newcomer nearly played for Croatia: Terance Mann.

In an interview with Mozzart Sport, a Serbian outlet, Mann described how one of his former teammates had tried to recruit him to join the Croatian national team. That teammate was LA Clippers big man Ivica Zubac.

"Ivica is my brother. I love him. I went to Croatia on a trip—I love Croatia—and he tried to recruit me to play for their national team a few years ago," Mann said. "That's really my brother. We grew up together in Los Angeles."

Mann spent the first six seasons of his professional career in Southern California with the Clippers, each of which he spent with Zubac as his teammate. The latter, a native Croatian, has enjoyed a highly successful basketball career outside of the NBA, hence the motive to recruit one of his close friends.

While Mann was born in Brooklyn, there is a path for him to join Zubac on the Croatian national team should he so desire. First, Mann would need to be granted Croatian citizenship—a process which could be sped up if the national team were to lobby the government. He'd have to comply with FIBA's naturalization rules and eventually receive an invite from the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS).

The HKS would then have to submit a formal request to FIBA for his eligibility.

Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid infamously went through the same process, allowing him to spend the 2024 Olympics representing the United States on Team USA.

Now, is it likely Mann ends up chasing Croatian citizenship to reunite with Zubac merely months after the former was traded away from the Clippers? Not at all. This could just be a playful quote from one good friend to another.

But in the event that it's not merely high-spirited banter, Brooklyn could add to an already diverse list of players that will be representing their home countries when international play comes about.