Musa shows the renaissance is real

Dzanan Musa’s personal rebuild has been remarkable to watch as the former Brooklyn Nets man has found his happy place and is ready for another shot in the NBA, writes Emmet Ryan

It was only one game. In truth, it was only one overtime period, but it was indicative of how Dzanan Musa has refined his game and made himself a far more versatile basketball player. The journey since leaving the Nets in 2020 required him to go back to what he was in order to mature into what he is now and that was clear against FC Barcelona on Thursday night.

Regulation had been ok to below par of Musa. He had 9 first half points but didn’t do much of anything in the second half and felt like he was going to be far from the deciding factor in El Clasico. Then overtime happened and Musa just plain took charge.

It began with a block, then came him scoring 9 of Real Madrid’s 18 point haul in that 5 minute spell while also dishing to Mario Hezonja for a three that essentially put it out of Barcelona’s reach.

The way back
Musa returned to Europe just over 2 years ago and, in terms of medals, it was great for him but it wasn’t quite the move he needed. The Bosnian joined an Anadolu Efes team that won the Euroleague and Turkish championships, the former a first in club history, but he saw little action in Europe’s top tier competition.

Musa rose to prominence before he was drafted on teams where he was, quite simply, the guy. He almost single handedly brought Bosnia & Herzegovina the FIBA U16 title in 2015 and followed that up with the Rising Star award from Eurocup, the secondary competition to Euroleague, with Cedevita. He was playing heavy minutes and getting a whole lot of the ball.

The jump to the NBA was at a relatively normal age, he had just turned 19 when he was drafted, but one for which he proved he wasn’t ready as he had never been asked before to build his way into a role in quite the same way. It wasn’t just the obvious higher level of the NBA but understanding what was required to make that jump a success while young.

So the Efes move got him a couple of championships but it was getting back to being the big guy that enabled him to bring himself back to where he needed to be mentally. Río Breogán in Spain was about as perfect a place for him to do that as it was going to get. A team that has plenty of top division experience in Spain but absolutely zip in terms of success.

So, naturally, Musa went out and carried them into the Copa…