By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Storming Europe in his first overseas season with three-point shows each and every night in the EuroLeague wasn’t enough for Markus Howard, who confirmed himself last year with Baskonia.
Now, after officially extending his contract with the Basque side until the 2027-28 season, marking him as the key player for both present and future of the club, the exciting scoring guard spoke to local media ahead of his upcoming third campaign in Vitoria.
“I’m very excited. There have been a lot of changes from this year to last year, but every year that happens. At the same time, very exciting: it’s a group of guys who are coming in with great talent”, he first commented about the team’s roster, that said goodbye to Codi Miller-McIntyre among others.
Most importantly, there have been a significant change on Baskonia‘s bench. “Coach [Pablo] Laso has an unbelievable resume, he’s extremely well respected amongst other players and coaches around Europe. For me to be able to play for a coach like him, the caliber coach he is, I’m excited. I know I’m gonna learn a lot from him. I feel I’m gonna get a lot better being coached by him”, Markus Howard said.
“The conversations we’ve had have been really brief, but I think right now from a group stand point we just want to win. I know he’s gonna excpext to work hard each and every day”, he continued about the former Real Madrid and Bayern’s head coach, before opening on leadership.
“I know throughout the year we’re gonna have more conversation about personally what he expects from me, but just try to be a leader of this team. Tadas [Sedekerskis] of course has doing it for as long as he’s been here. It’s my third year here, us having experience with this club, he’s gonna rely on both of us to provide leadership for the team”, Markus Howard added about him and his Lithuanian captain.
The 1999-born exciting backcourt player was also expected to represent Puerto Rico in this past Olympic summer, but his newborn complicated the newest experience. “They had an unbelievable tesm, you have to give a lot of credit to Carlos Arroyo for the team that him and the federation put together. The timing of it was a little tough just with the birth of my son being so close to it”, he first said.
However, Markus Howard is still willing to represent the national team. “But we’ve been in great contact for the past two years, they completely understood my family is the most important thing to me. But the door is not closed by any means, and I fully intend to play for Puerto Rico as soon as I can”, he added.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague