By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Before launching his third campaign with Fenerbahce Beko, Nigel Hayes-Davis was named to the Select Team of Team USA. He participated in the preparations of the team coached by Steve Kerr for the 2024 Olympic Games on the way to gold in Paris.
Appearing on Off the RECourt with Shane Larkin, he opened up on several topics, including interactions with NBA superstars during the training camp. His experience countered playing basketball overseas in Europe over the last eight years.
One of the most prominent Turkish Airlines EuroLeague stars explained that the game in the Old Continent sometimes gets twisted into a cutthroat competition that takes all the joy out of it.
“The most unbelievable times were being on the bench. I was texting my mom or my guys. In Europe, there’s always this sense of anger. You sit next to someone, and they’re yelling because somebody scored, everyone is mad, the coach turns around,” he told hosts Shane Larkin and Elijah Bryant, “I rediscovered and discovered like a level of joy for basketball that I didn’t know I had or I hadn’t seen in a while since being in Europe. Because there is no joy playing basketball in Europe.”
😮💨Nigel Hayes Davis said that “there’s no joy playing basketball in Europe”. pic.twitter.com/3TUW7uNj27
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) November 10, 2024
The discussion with the Anadolu Efes players then went into more comparisons, such as players representing their respective home countries in international tournaments and advantages for players born outside the United States in the annual NBA draft.
Hayes-Davis, 29, went undrafted in 2017, coming out of four NCAA years with Wisconsin. He went on to play in nine NBA games with the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, and Sacramento Kings during the 2017-18 Regular Season, before using overseas options and becoming a household name in the EuroLeague universe.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net