“I wanted to honor Alphonso Ford”

By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net

Next week during the Euroleague Final Four, EA7 Milano will not be on the court. However one of its most illustrious members, Keith Langford, will be part of the festivities as the reigning top scorer of the league for the 2013-14 season.

With 17.56 points per game, the American sharpshooter – who has the option to get also a Turkish passport – is fulfilling one of his personal goals, as he knows very well who Alphonso Ford was, the player after whom the top scorer trophy is named.

As Langford confessed to Eurohoops: “Lot of work went into getting this award. Μy agent Nick Lotsos told me nine years ago when he first met me that I was the best pure scorer he had seen since Alphonso Ford. I had no idea who that was at the time but he gave me the story of representing him and I decided that one day I was going to win that award as well in honor of him and our agent. I believe that anybody can learn to play basketball, but you are born a scorer!”.

Of course, it will not be a surprise to see him also in the All Euroleague teams which will be announced in the next days. And in case you don’t know who Alphonso Ford was and his story, you can read this Eurohoops piece about him.