By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
Giorgos Printezis is ready for the 12th season of his professional career with Olympiacos. It will be the sixth consecutive year for 31-year old Greek power forward with the jersey of the Reds. He is now almost a… veteran of European basketball.
“Truth be told, in Europe, and especially in Greece, they think you are ‘old’ even when you are 33 years old”, he jokingly said to Eurohoops. “Its different in the NBA when you can play for many more years than that.”
His NBA rights belong to the San Antonio Spurs. Since his contract with Olympiacos is expiring on summer 2017, would he consider making the jump to the USA?
“Right now, such thing is not on my mind. But: If an offer comes from the Spurs, it will be something… unreal or me. The team is a big lure as well. It is a team that works right. If I was ever given the chance to go to the NBA, I wouldn’t want to play for a team of a…. chaotic basketball system. I’d like to be somewhere where the game has a certain structure. There’s also the Spurs’ basketball style that is closer to European standards. I don’t know if something like that happens though. I don’t even know if I deserve it.”
“I am happy here in Olympiacos and when the moment comes to talk about my new contract we’ll see. As I’ve told you, I don’t think about it right now.”
Printezis is an iconic player for his team. What does he have to say for Dimitris Diamantidis, the player-symbol of Panathinaikos (Olympiacos’ arch-rival club0, who retired from basketball after the end of the previous season.
“A great loss for Greek basketball. As a basketball fan but also as his friend I felt a bit sad about it, yes. As an opponent? Not at all,” he admitted.
When we asked him which player would he choose to add as a teammate in Olympiacos, if he had the chance for that, Printezis picked someone quite familiar to him. “Kyle Hines!”