By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The news that the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has been canceled affected teams and fans worldwide, but none more than the players who are the main protagonists in each an every game. Following the news of the decision to cancel the season, players of all 18 teams went into detail about their feelings upon the season cancellation through euroleague.net:
Vassilis Spanoulis, Olympiacos
“First of all, it was a very difficult decision. It’s something very rare, what happened in the world. Mr. Jordi Bertomeu and his crew had to make a very difficult decision. And at the end of the day, I think that it was the best decision.”
“It’s about respect for the health and safety of players, and again, it was a very difficult decision. But you have to think about a lot of things. Let’s say, not only about this year, the continuation of the EuroLeague or not, but also about next year, about preparations and other things. So it’s a whole mess, and I think it was the best decision again. It’s better to think how we can play and make the best about next season.”
Tornike Shengelia, Baskonia
Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce
Charles Kahudi, ASVEL
Sergey Monia, Khimki Moscow Region
“I think it was the right decision. The main goal for players is to stay healthy and it’s pretty unsure how the teams can manage to gather together, in one country, what happens if somebody gets sick and it would also have affected the upcoming preseason. So I think it was the best decision under the circumstances to finish the season without a champion and look ahead to the next season.”
“It will help the players to take care of their health because everyone is going to be able to stay home and practice individually. So in this case we can all get ready for the new season without the fear or danger of getting ill.”
Andrea Cinciarini, AX Armani Exchange Milan
“I think to stop and cancel the season is the right choice that the EuroLeague made. Because this virus now is really different in all the countries where the teams of EuroLeague are. So it’s difficult to restart, especially after two months where we stay at home and don’t have the possibility to move and take care of our bodies. This is the most important thing, especially for the players that are usually happy to practice every day.”
“The EuroLeague is the best basketball in Europe, so to have maybe a lot of injuries, maybe players that didn’t come back, is no good for the system. This is one of the situations that we as players decided to tell the league. The other thing is integrity. Integrity for me is not only physical but also mental. Imagine staying two months closed in the house, and then another 25 days in a city to play EuroLeague games, and then for sure you would have to [quarantine] another 14 days when you come back to your country because you have stayed in another country. There would be different situations and scenarios about mental toughness.”
Danilo Barthel, Bayern
Will Thomas, Zenit
Sergio Llull, Real Madrid
Nick Calathes, Panathinaikos
Ante Tomic, Barcelona
Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes
Peyton Siva, ALBA Berlin
Scottie Wilbekin, Maccabi
Kyle Hines, (ex CSKA Moscow) Olimpia Milano
Bojan Dubljevic, Valencia
Paulius Jankunas, Zalgiris
Photo: EuroLeague