Tom Chambers recalled getting traded for the first Slovenian who ever played in the NBA: “I got traded because he jumped over a car” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Tom Chambers thought that signing with the Phoenix Suns as a free agent in 1997 was going to be his last stop in the NBA. But after he rejoined his former team in August, he missed the first eight games of the season due to injury. Then, in a surprise move, the Suns traded their beloved former star player to the Philadelphia 76ers for a European rookie who had never played a game before.
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Looking back, Chambers recalled his rather short stint with the Sixers during his appearance on the “Pressbox Party” podcast.
“I have a jersey. I did not miss a shot. I was two of two and Larry Brown says, ‘You know what? Why don’t you just come help, stay on the staff and be a coach?’ I’m like ‘In Philadelphia? I can go to Phoenix and be on the staff. I don’t need to be in Philadelphia.’ But yeah, that was short-lived. I got traded for Marko Milic because he jumped over a car and Brian Colangelo wanted him or something,” said Chambers.
The first player to dunk over a car?
Milic was the 76ers’ 33rd overall pick out of Slovenia, where he won multiple Slovenian League titles with Union Olimpija. The 6’6″ guard/forward was also a five-time All-Star, two-time All-Star game MVP and two-time Dunk contest winner in the SKL.
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Not only was Milic the first Slovenian player to play in the NBA, but long before Blake Griffin did during the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest, he was the first to dunk over a car in a dunk competition, doing so over a green Honda CRX car during the local dunk contest in 1995.
Milic never played a single game for the Sixers as his rights were traded to the Suns for Chambers in November 1997. As Chambers mentioned, it was then Suns GM Brian Colangelo who liked Milic because he thought the rookie had the potential to be the next Dan Majerle.
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“We’ve been interested in Marko since the draft,” said Colangelo. “He’s someone to look at for a while. How quickly can he develop? What impact can he have? We don’t know. But he’s strong, athletic and still learning. He brings an enthusiasm which is refreshing. I wouldn’t say that this is necessarily an experiment. We’ll give it a shot.”
One and done
Both Milic and Chambers made their debut for their respective teams on November 26, 1997. Marko played only 1:04 against the New Jersey Nets and scored two points. He never panned out and ended up playing only 44 games in two seasons for the Suns before returning to Europe.
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Meanwhile, Chambers played 9:44 off the Sixers’ bench and scored six points on 2-2 field goals shooting and 2-2 from the foul line. He also added two rebounds and 2 steals in an 89-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That would turn out to be Tom’s only game for the Sixers as he announced his retirement 11 days later, citing his desire to return to Phoenix to be closer to his family, who were staying in his hometown of Ogden in Utah.
After retirement, Chambers bought a ranch in North Ogden where he and his family settled down. However, he later took a job with the Suns as a community relations representative, so he sold the ranch and moved his family permanently to Scottsdale, Arizona.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.