By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
LONDON, Great Britain – Kevin Durant was about to head to practice as his time for media availability in London was ending when he was asked about Nigel Hayes-Davis.
Somebody who got the call-up to the Select Team after another huge EuroLeague campaign with Fenerbahce, even breaking the record for most points scored in a single game, 50 against ALBA Berlin.
One of the greatest basketball players ever chose to speak highly about him, surprising most of the media. “I think he has the talent to be in the NBA. He’s been showing that so far, he’s showed that in college, and playing in the EuroLeague”, he first said.
“Hopefully, he gets this opportunity, but he just loves to play regardless and he will play and work on his game until he can no more. Hopefully, he’s in the league soon”, the legend himself continued.
“I appreciate it, 7”, Nigel Hayes-Davis followed up.
I asked Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) about Select Team member and Fenerbahce’s Nigel Hayes-Davis (@NIGEL_HAYES) belonging to the NBA:
“He has the talent to be in the NBA. Hopefully, he gets this opportunity, but he just loves to play regardless. Hopefully, he’s in the league soon”. pic.twitter.com/rxVI5mzUsb
— Cesare Milanti (@cesaremilanti) July 19, 2024
After USA Basketball survived 101-100 against South Sudan in the first of two games in the London Showcase, Nigel Hayes-Davis reflected on that exclusively by speaking to Eurohoops.
“I believe that is well, other people believe it. But to have someone whose opinion people respect is a big and important thing”, he first said about Kevin Durant expressing his thoughts on the 29-year-old American forward belonging to the NBA.
“It’s very good to have one of the greatest players of all time, Top-75, someone a lot of people putting great high to, even close to Mount Rushmore. Anthony Edwards says he’s the best player of all time in his eyes… so to be able to be in that conversation, with someone whose ability is respected and to have him say that really shows and shines the light on”, Nigel Hayes-Davis also said about KD.
“Tremendous, tremendous life, tremendous opportunity”, he continued.
Living a tremendous opportunity
But how did that all happen? The way to share a day-to-day life on the road to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 started way back while he was experiencing the EuroLeague and Turkish league 2023-24 campaign with Fenerbahce.
“My agent Kevin Bradbury told me something about the USA thing. It was during the season, so I really didn’t pay attention to it. I had other things I was focusing on. Literally, after we won the Turkish league, he called me afterward and told me: “Do you wanna really wanna do a type thing?”. And I was like “Absolutely”, he revealed.
“I didn’t know what my duties and roles would be. But it’s a tremendous opportunity and it surpasses even what I imagined it would be. I apologize for being long with it, but this is something you couldn’t pay money to be a part of as a basketball player”, Nigel Hayes-Davis continued.
It’s something he doesn’t know how to put into words. “Everyone has dreams of professionals, NBA, and then even the Olympics. I’m not officially on the team, but to even be here, be around the guys, have my name on the jersey, it’s a very incredible opportunity. I’m very happy about it”, Fenerbahce’s forward continued.
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
Nigel Hayes-Davis smiles at what looks like a dream
Whoever follows Nigel Hayes-Davis on Instagram, knows he likes to express his emotions and feelings in words. His days around USA Basketball’s system are no exception to it.
That’s where he shared that he is “pretty sure this is the greatest experience basketball” may have given him. But he also said the following: “I’ll always leave room for the creator to open my life to more”.
When asked about it, his emotions go through.
“I use Instagram as a journal and as a public therapy session. I’m putting my actual life out there, what I’m feeling and I’m going through. It’s something that could have happened, that is happening. Something that relates to you, you think it’s about you and probably is. It’s just my life and this is a very tremendous opportunity. It feels like a dream most of the time”, he opened.
“I’ve done a good job of living in the moment. There are cameras around randomly where you just see me standing there smiling, and that’s because I’m enjoying where I’m at, I’m enjoying what I’m doing”; he continued.
“There are times – I told the guys back home in our group chat – where I could cry tears of joy, of happiness because I’m around one of the best teams of all time. To be here and be around one of the greatest teams of all time, to be able to be next to these guys, to be able to laugh, joke, play, workout, watch, and learn. Being one of the guys is like a dream, it’s fantastic”, Nigel Hayes-Davis expressed.
His teammate Sertac Sanli recently commented that he “can’t wait to hear all the stories” coming from these weeks around LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and the rest of the renewed Dream Team. But what is Nigel Hayes-Davis learning?
“Learning how the greats are great. Watching their habits, how they warm up, and what they eat for breakfast. Watch how they take care of their body, what they do before practice, and after practice. How they practice and communicate. The words they say, they use. The way they look at the game”, he said.
“There’s no amount of money in the world that you could pay to be around all of these people at one time. To be able to be here and do that, it’s something I’m extremely happy and joyful to be here for”, Nigel Hayes-Davis concluded. Living the dream never felt more than a stronger source of pride.
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
PHOTO CREDIT: USA Basketball