Former No. 2 Pick Darko Milicic to Give Up Basketball, Pursue Kickboxing

The 2003 NBA draft class is one of the greatest of all time, with LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all having carved out Hall of Fame-caliber careers. The remaining Top Five pick from that class, however, has seemingly decided to give up on basketball and try something else.

Darko Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft, is now pursuing a career as a kickboxer in Belgrade, Serbia, NBASerbia.com reported Monday. According to the report, he's set to sign a contract with the World Kickboxing Association on Wednesday. 

You can see some of Darko's training below, via EuroHoops.net:

The 7'0", 275-pound big man played for six teams in his 10-year NBA career, averaging 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. The 29-year-old played one game for the Boston Celtics back in 2012 but has not appeared in a game since.

The Detroit Pistons drafted Milicic right behind LeBron and ahead of Carmelo, Bosh and D-Wade. Given the success the latter three went on to experience, passing on them is a mistake that continues to haunt the franchise to this day.

Here's hoping Milicic's kickboxing career goes better than his NBA one did.

[h/t SI's Extra Mustard]