By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Beko guard said he believes he’s doesn’t belong in the NBA and that he feels well in EuroLeague, where he has established himself “among the best.”
“I am completely self-aware,” Sloukas said regarding him and the NBA in an interview with Ethnosport of Greek newspaper Ethnos. “I’m not for the NBA. I’m good in Europe. I have established myself, I’m one of the best, I’ve worked and continue working for this.”
Sloukas was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the first time in his career in 2019.
“Inside me, I’m clear with this, I never flirted with the thought of the NBA.”
Sloukas extended his contract with Fenerbahce until 2022 earlier this month, after being intensely targetedby his former team Olympiacos Piraeus plus Barcelona. According to the 29-year-old Greek combo guard, it was a complex decision.
“It was a tricky decision to take,” Sloukas said. It was perhaps the most important of my career, until the next of course. I had a difficult time with Fener in the first season. It wasn’t easy, I suffered. For a long time there was the question if Sloukas did well to leave Greece and go to Turkey or will it go wrong for him.” Besides the competitive weight there’s also the psychological one. I heard a lot but I didn’t care. I took the risk, it was a life decision and, today, I feel I was right. This moment I’m enjoying the love and the trust of the fans, it makes me happy. I’m happy that my efforts paid off and I came where I am today. Fener offers me the most ideal environment to work in. The most important reason I stayed had to do with coach Zeljko Obradovic, who I think he’s the top one. His impact on team improvement and my improvement is so great. This season we were within reach of our goals in EuroLeague and Turkey until April, as our winning record showed. Then some problems arrived gathered. We had a lot of injuries and, in the end, didn’t endure.”