By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The only thing that Ergin Ataman would be willing to leave Anadolu Efes for is the prospect of landing his first job in the NBA. That’s what the Turkish coach told reporters in a zoom call presser ahead of the team’s second straight trip to the EuroLeague Final Four.
“[Jose] Mourinho said in his documentary: ‘Although we’re professional coaches, we’re actually very emotional people. We always create a bond with teams, players and clubs. Therefore, no matter how successful we are, we usually don’t change teams as long as we’re not fired. I’m with Anadolu Efes in Europe as long as I’m not fired. But if there’s an offer from the NBA, I’ll consider it,” Ataman said.
“After the experience I have with the Anadolu Efes organization, I never thought of moving to another team in Europe,” Ataman had mentioned. “I’m in my country with a Turkish team. Efes and I are working harmoniously. I never had such a thought. There’s always the question of the NBA. Never before in the history of the NBA a European-born coach started there as head coach after his success [in Europe]. If I receive an offer, I’ll of course think about it.”
These last three years and under Ataman’s helm, Efes has made an outstanding leap in the ranks of European basketball to be now considered a EuroLeague superpower. After finishing at the bottom of the standings in 2018, the Turkish side made the EuroLeague championship game in 2019 and carried that momentum to be at the first place when the coronavirus pandemic caused the abrupt cancelation of the 2020 season.
They had the best offense in EuroLeague and were widely considered the favorites to win the title.
This year Efes dominated the second-leg of the regular season 14 – 3 to clinch third place and moved past Real Madrid in the playoffs to another Final Four tournament. A chance to pursue what they couldn’t in 2020.
Ataman said that Efes will look to remain among EuroLeague’s elite even if several stars are potentially lost to the NBA. Vasilije Micic looks NBA bound while Shane Larkin has an NBA opt-out clause on the two-year contract he signed with the team in 2020.
“We will try to keep Anadolu Efes at the same level for the next two years,” Ataman said. “Our team has been at the top of European basketball for three seasons. We are a team that doesn’t only the basketball it plays but is also enjoyable with the basketball it plays. We’ll try to continue like this in the upcoming seasons. I don’t know how the staff structure will be. We have players whose contracts are expiring and have NBA chances. There will be no coming back from here for Efes and my coaching career.”