By Semih Tuna / stuna@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops chatted with the experienced Tofas player, who’s making an impression for the team in its every EuroCup and Turkish League game. The truth is, Mejia is simply enjoying the game and finally feels at ease, both with his “job”, as well as his personal life in a foreign country.
Eurohoops: First of all, it’s your 6th year in Turkey. How do you feel after all these years?
Sammy Mejia: Turkey feels like home to me now. I have my life here. I and my family are pretty happy here. My daughter is going to school here. I feel more like home here than even when I go back to the States in the summer. Because my life is more organized here.
EH: TOFAS has still not lost in the league and you have only two defeats in EuroCup. What is the reason behind this success and did you imagine such a great start?
SM: I think the reason behind our success has a lot to do with the little things people don’t see. Not only players’ quality or individual performances. We are taking everything as a team, as a club to set a good atmosphere for our organization. As friends, as players, as teammates… We always put the team before everything we’re doing in basketball. We understand that the season is long, and in order for us to have any chance to succeed we must love our job and we must enjoy the challenges that come with it. And we know we must stick together, so I think we’ve done a great job until now for carrying those principles and letting them decide the game for us. You see it, we play together. We fight until the end. This season, we won a lot of close games. You know, it’s difficult to win so many close games when the team is not together. I hope we can continue in that way. As for if I thought that we’d start this way; I do not think about the future a lot in my life. I try to be the best I can be each day. I think about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. We understand how fast everything can change for us. So we just try to stay focused and see how far we can go.
EH: What do you think about the team?
SM: I think it’s one of the best organizations, not only in Turkey but in Europe. They did a great job of being professional and like I said, there’s a great family environment here. They respect their players, and they try to give the players the best possibility to be successful on the court. I think until now that’s one of the main reasons why players like here. The atmosphere environment and the culture… The organization has done a great job, going all the way from the presidential to the coaching staff creating an atmosphere where the players are comfortable. We know how different it is in other clubs, the situation, what they have to deal with. I think the club is perfect. I love it here. I’ve been committed to the club because they have a great history.
34-year-old Mejia still remembers and speaks fondly of his former team and coach Orhun Ene.
EH: What are the similarities between TOFAS and Banvit?
SM: Banvit is a professional club, as well. They were very professional and they were good to my family and me. I don’t have any complaints about my experience there. Also, I can say that, from where I’m standing, they were very similar. But I think, what’s special about here is the atmosphere… It goes all the way from the top to the bottom. There is no separation between players, management and staff. When we travel, when we spend time together, when we are on the court or eating at a restaurant; we are all together all the time. In most of the clubs, there’s a separation between the management and the players. And I think in this club, we are trying to stay together.
EH: Three years ago you were selected to the All-EuroCup second team and you ended up in the second league in Turkey. There must be a reason why everybody said that it was thanks to Orhun Ene. How is your relationship with him?
SM: If you look at that decision, that’s the perfect explanation of my relationship with the coach. Like I said, with him being here and the history of the club… Everyone else thought that was an impossible decision to come here. But to me it was an easy decision. It was the perfect place for me. I trusted the organization, I trusted the process… I knew what kind of an atmosphere coach Orhun Ene would like to be part of. We could have a chance together to get back to the first division and compete at the highest level. And I’ve been very lucky with my decision and I’m very happy that everything just turned out to be what we hoped. Like I said, my family and I, we are very happy to be here. It’s a great time of my life.
Mejia believes in quality, and for that he has given up his NBA dream.
EH: You are a top-class player and you may have played in the EuroLeague at this stage of your career. Why did you choose not to be in the top league of Europe?
SM: I wanted to be part of something that I believed in. And I wanted to be part of creating a culture that I thought was necessary for European basketball. There is a lot of the same kind of cultures in Europe, where there is a constant pressure, constant expectations. You know, win or go home. You know, win or go find something else. At this point in my career, I wanted to show the people that you can care about the players, you can care about the organization, the environment. That was the main reason why I came here after the experience I had with Orhun Ene in Banvit. And we were very successful in Banvit. And I believed in his talent, his philosophy. That’s the main reason why I came here. I wanted to be a part of the basketball change in Europe. Hopefully, people understand what I’m trying to say. It’s important to me, this kind of things. And we have a great opportunity to show Europe that you can love your job, love what you are and be comfortable and have success. Instead of the idea of hating your job and achieving in the end. I believe, you can do the other way also. You don’t have to wake up in the morning and think that you’re gonna work. You can also love your job, wake up and be around good people and have success. That’s what I’m trying to do here.
EH: In a recent interview made with you, I read that you and your career will be here in Turkey. But in one of the first interviews you had when you came to Turkey, you said that your dream is the NBA. When did you give up, or did you give up this dream?
SM: Like I said, at this point in my career, when I look at my family and where I am in my career, I’m in a very very happy place right now. I think, not many players find this chance in their career at this point. Some players spend their careers moving from one club to another one and they enjoy it. But I believe that I’m in a very special place in my career. I’m in love with my job. I fell in love with it more than I expected at this stage of my career. The management, staff, my teammates… I am very happy with the environment here. My family is comfortable. My daughter is doing very well at the school. When I came to this club, I immediately thought this. Like, I found a great place. I think, when I came here, that’s when I gave up on my NBA dream. Because I know where I am, how happy I am and how much I am enjoying my job. A lot of people cannot find this, not only in basketball. In their jobs, people in business, in companies… I feel very lucky to find this peace in my job and in my career. That was the changing factor for me that I found a place where I am comfortable, my family is happy. I feel like I am fulfilling my purpose as a player.
EH: You can do a lot of things on the court. I do not know if you know that but you are the efficiency leader in Turkish Super League. Can we say that it tells us something about your game?
SM: I didn’t know that. I just learned it. That’s something that personally I take a lot of pride in. I always believe that if you play good basketball, basketball will reward you. All the best teams in Europe, the best teams in America, they play good basketball. Outside of Golden State, Golden State is like… They are something special. When we look at the history of the best basketball teams in Europe, in the NBA, now the San Antonio Spurs, they always make the best play. I try to do this in my game. You can play for each other, for your teammate. Sometimes sacrificing one good shot, one great shot, sometimes that is what it takes to win the game, to keep everybody happy, to keep everybody involved. I think this has a lot to do with me trusting in our system, trusting what we’re doing, and letting basketball decide what’s gonna be the result.
EH: Finally, what’s your personal goal over here? And what’s your goal as a club?
SM: This is a good question. I think my biggest goal here, is to show people that basketball is changing and you can do things differently and you can communicate with players, you can have a different kind of relationship with your team while achieving the same success with a lot of those myths, the whole expectations the people have with other teams. Europe has this history. Not now, but in the past, it has this history. All the teams with crazy coaches. Every foreign player coming to Europe had this idea. If you are going to Europe, you are gonna have some hard coaching, who is shouting all the time. My goal will be to show the people that it’s not always like that. And secondly, that you can win without being like that. Because I think, with the way basketball is changing and with a lot of new players coming over here, they really have an opportunity to be part of that change. When I first arrived in Europe, the basketball was different than now. Coach Orhun Ene is one of the best communicating coaches I’ve ever had at any level. He has a way of talking to his players and helping them understand the big picture, helping them understand how basketball helps them become better people, better individuals. To see this combination on the court, during the travels… I think my biggest goal is to show that you can be in a great club with big expectations and love your job and enjoy what you do and be proud to be where you are. And if it comes with some success, some trophies, which is the number one goal for everyone -as you wanna win- if we could combine those things, it would be like my big dream come true. To bring another title, which has been missing for a long time… Hopefully, we can take some steps in that direction.