By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kyle has wowed fans across Europe and beyond with his stellar play over nine seasons to become one of the most beloved players in the EuroLeague. Now, the 32-year-old veteran puts you inside the conversation when EuroLeague stars get together and talk about the competition, their love of basketball, their careers, their lives off the court, and more.
Kyle’s first guest is a familiar, bearded face, none other than his CSKA teammate, Sergio “El Chacho” Rodriguez, former EuroLeague champion, EuroLeague MVP and World Cup gold medalist, whose career path from the Canary Islands to the summit of the sport makes for fascinating listening.
“I tried many sports, but basketball was the best,” Rodriguez says. “The main thing about basketball is you can play alone. You always want to play with teammates and friends, but at the same time, you can be alone playing basketball. When I was a kid, I was very energetic, running all day. I needed a lot of things to do, and basketball covered all my needs.”
The Spanish star talks about leaving home at 14 to pursue his basketball ambitions, winning the world championship with his friends on the Spanish national team, being drafted in the NBA, and his time with Real Madrid, where he became EuroLeague MVP in 2014 and continental champion in 2015.
“In the Canary Islands, there is a lot of attention on basketball,” Rodriguez explains. “There are many kids playing on every island. As one of those kids, I always wanted to be able to watch every week EuroLeague teams… It was important for us to see how professionals were playing the same sport that we played every day in school. And I think that it’s important for everybody to get the chance to see the highest-quality basketball that you can watch in Europe.”
There’s also the story of how he got his nickname, the origins of his famous beard, and more!
The Kyle Zone will be a regular feature of Euroleague Basketball Podcasts, joining The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas to let fans go in-depth with the protagonists of Europe’s top pro basketball competition. The Kyle Zone will be broadcast on iTunes, Audioboom, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts and other platforms.
The Kyle Zone, The Crossover and The Insider EuroLeague Documentary Series, now in its fourth season, are part of Euroleague Basketball’s commitment to long-form story-telling that brings fans closer and closer to their EuroLeague heroes. Both add to a non-stop diet of feature stories produced by partner IMG to go along with a vast offering of game-related video, social media and editorial content for both the EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.