By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Kostas Papanikolaou via a written statement said goodbye to Europe and hello to Houston Rockets, the “biggest challenge” of his career, as he admitts. The former player of Barcelona, Olympiacos and Aris thanked his previous teams and he believes that he is ready for the next step on the courts of the NBA.
“At age 24, I feel lucky after having successes that many players are dreaming for their entire career. I’m blessed with everything I achieved until this day. A new page opens upon me and the biggest challenge of my career awaits. NBA has been for me a dream. I know that in order to justify my presence I have to work two and three times as hard as I did until now, but this isn’t something that scares me. I can’t wait to put on my Houston Rockets jersey and start with my new teammates our effort to achieve the team’s goals. This tranfer would not have been possible if I did not have by my side,my family and my two agends, George Sferopoulos an Tasos Moisiadis, who I want to thank. I also owe a big thanks to my previous teams. Aris, for opening for me the doors of professional basketball. Olympiakos, with whom i conquered the top of Europe two times, living some of the best moments of my career. And also Barcelona for showing me the highest level of basketball outside Greece, closing last season in the best possible manner, after winning Spanish league”.