By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BELGRADE, Serbia – Before the summer of 2022, David Kravish had never stayed with the same team for more than one season since coming overseas. The 2021-22 season was particularly tough, not making it up to the expectations in the Basketball Champions League with Galatasaray.
Then, the call from Andalucia came, and an intense love story with Unicaja Malaga started to take shape. “It’s hard to put into words because Ibon [Navarro] has believed in me from the first moment. I came off of a harder season before I came here”, he said in the mixed zone moments after winning the Basketball Champions League in Belgrade.
The Spanish head coach, who completed his redemption arc after finishing third with UCAM Murcia in 2018 and fourth with Unicaja in last year’s Final Four in Malaga, is the reason why David Kravish can celebrate now. “When he called me he had a bunch of confidence in me, I got to Malaga and he was confident enough to give me the star shooting, extending my range beyond the three-point line. He never faults doing that, for one second. The first year I’ve ever done it”, he then said.
“He’s always good at keeping us focused, he’s always good at reminding us. Because we’re a group of guys who like to have fun, he’s good at directing our energy. We’ve got a group that knows how to do that too, everybody is willing to set everything aside for the sake of the team. That’s super rare, you can’t build it better”, he said about Unicaja Malaga’s head coach’s way of preparing these games.
“He has always given me confidence and the extra kick in the butt to get going again. He’s amazing, there aren’t words”, he finished praising Ibon Navarro while also saying great stuff about the Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP. “KP [Kendrick Perry] is amazing, what are you gonna say? He’s the MVP, that says it all”, David Kravish commented about Kendrick Perry.
“I couldn’t be happier”
This isn’t the first time David Kravish can celebrate a trophy with Unicaja Malaga, as the Andalucian club proved all the doubters wrong in the 2023 Copa del Rey. He’s unsure if this win in Belgrade is the most important night of his career. “It’s tough. It’s up there because of last year when we fumbled it badly. We’ve been waiting a year to come back to this point, and to win it is redemption”, he expressed.
Surely, the Copa del Rey and this Basketball Champions League victory belong to a whole different level of satisfaction and happiness for the 32-year-old forward. “These two moments are the two top for me, especially with the collection of guys we’ve got, the organization, the city. I couldn’t be happier, it’s all factors that make this amazing”, David Kravish continued.
Finally, the 2023-24 BCL Star Lineup member got emotional when talking about what the city behind Unicaja means to him. “Malaga is everything. I’m not super yelling and energetic, I don’t do a lot of interviews [in which I say it], but I love the city so much, I love the organization. “Siempre te llevo conmigo”: I feel that, I feel that genuinely. It’s amazing, I love it”, he concluded.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League