TORONTO _ On one hand, Goran Dragic laughed it off. On the other hand, he wondered if it would feel the same way if the situation were reversed.
During the Miami Heat's Wednesday road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the Slovenian guard was heckled by a fan who shouted, "Go back to Russia."
Versed on how not to incite, Dragic replied, "I'm not from Russia."
But he is from a country with a proud sense of independence after centuries of outside rule or influence.
That had him reflecting Friday on the incident, as the Heat completed preparations for Friday night's game against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.
"For us Europeans, that's a big deal, from different countries," he said. "I don't know how to describe it, the same as if you said, 'Go back to Mexico,' if I said that to somebody who is American."
Dragic said he appreciates overseas confusion about the former Yugoslavian republics, just as he might be unaware of specifics elsewhere internationally.
"It's hard," he said, "because this is a different continent. Even if somebody asks me about Asia, I would probably not know where is some country. I understand that."
Dragic said because of what his homeland has endured, the slight is about more than being called Russian or any other nationality.
"If you go back to Europe, everything what was going on, World War I, World War II and the wars in the Balkans and Yugoslavia, everyone takes pride," he said. "You're not from Russia. You're not from this. You're from your own country. It's hard, though."
But he also said he has perspective, considering the ethnic tensions during his international competitions, everything from a plastic covering being needed over benches to prevent players from being hit by hurled coins, to the time when an orange landed on the court that was filled with razor blades.
"It's more internationally," he said of actual stress. "Over there it's more stuff. They're throwing coins. If you see our benches, they're covered with a plastic cover. So it's a little bit different."
No matter the venue, Dragic said it is best to simply move on, even after he corrected the fan Wednesday at the Spectrum Center.
"The fans, they want to provoke you," he said. "I just said, 'I'm not from Russia.' So that's it.
"I mean, it is what it is."
Dragic said he can appreciate that fans want to distract, disarm, diminish. It's just that he prefers something a bit less personal.
"It's always something, 'Dragic, your last name should be Tragic,' " he said with a smile. "Fans."
