By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Ioannis Papapetrou left Olympiacos for Panathinaikos and while most of his former teammates stated on the record that they respect his decision, Dimitris Agravanis took a different approach.
In an interview, given to Olympiacos affiliated newspaper “Fos”, Agravanis was asked about Papapetrou and gave the following answer: “I don’t want to lie. I believe that Ioannis’ behavior since the end of the season was at least unacceptable. Everyone can sign wherever he wants, but also has to behave like a man. Especially, towards a team that had supported him more than everyone else during the last few seasons. The bottom line is that everyone will be judged on the court”.
Papapetrou was asked during the first media day of the Greens about the statements of his former teammate and he didn’t hold back: “There’s no reason to talk via the media and reply to each other. My job is to play basketball. Our job is to play basketball and don’t speak. Everone has something to say according to what he believes and his educational level. It’s his opinion, it should be respected, but I will not enter into a debate. I was raised differently”.
Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are nicknamed the “eternal opponents” of Greek sports. It’s not the first time that a player moved from one to the other, but for the first time, there’s a beef between former teammates about the move.