By John Rammas / irammas@eurohoops.net
During the EuroLeague Media Day, the newest Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort spoke with Eurohoops after coming off two amazing campaigns with Partizan Belgrade, first in the EuroCup and then at the upper floor.
Talking about his experience with the black-and-white team, he had nothing but great words. “It was a great opportunity to play for him [Zeljko Obradovic]. Belgrade has become a special place for me. After the first year I said that I didn’t want to go anywhere else, but to continue there, to play under his instructions in the Euroleague where the team had returned. It was important for me to stay at Partizan and I am happy to have played there”, Lessort said.
Continuing on the great Zeljko Obradovic, the French center spoke about his life lessons as well. “He likes to say that we should enjoy life. That’s what he was mainly telling us. You have to be tough and focused on the court, but off the court, you have to enjoy life. You should do things you enjoy. He often said this”, the former AS Monaco big man commented.
The former Bayern Munich and Maccabi Tel Aviv player also touched on the passion he felt in the Stark Arena. “I had the opportunity to play for a great coach. He trusted me like no one else. It was already a big deal to play under the instructions of a coach who had won the Euroleague nine times and gave me a starting position when other coaches didn’t trust me to do it. I was also very excited that the team had returned to the Euroleague after ten years”, he gave the credit to the Serbian coach
Then, he praised Partizan Belgrade’s fanbase. “And the fans trusted me a lot. It was all these together and I couldn’t let them down. They trusted me, they gave me something that others didn’t. When you wish for such situations and they come true, you remember them forever. They don’t come easily. I knew personally how rare and difficult it is to be in such a situation and I wanted to make the most of it. All this made me not want to disappoint them”, Mathias Lessort ended.
So far in the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season, Mathias Lessort has been averaging 14.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game with Ergin Ataman’s team, being one of the best centers in the whole Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Following his double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds against Baskonia, he was named the EuroLeague Round 5 MVP.
🎤 Interview: John Rammas
🎥 Direction of photography & editing: Konstantinos Dimitriou