Του George Adamopoulos / gadamopoulos@eurohoops.net
Elijah Bryant sat down with Eurohoops to talk about his journey to win NBA and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championships, sharing his opinion about a potential expansion of the NBA in Europe.
“I think it’s very beneficial for parties involved, whether that’s EuroLeague, NBA, FIBA. I think the more we can grow the game of basketball, it will help everyone,” he projected during his interview.
“We talk about how is it possible for there to be no domestic league anymore,” the 29-year-old winger revealed discussions between EuroLeague players about the tentative plan of the NBA, “We’re playing over 100 games a year. To be able to limit those games, to going only to the big cities, I think it would entice even better talent to come over in Europe.”
“Oh my gosh, it’s KD”
In 2021, he was crowned NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks, before moving his talents to Anadolu Efes and becoming a EuroLeague champion in 2022. In a rewind to the Bucks, he remembered a best-of-seven series opposite the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant.
“They did what they did, now we need to do what we need to do,” he shared how P.J. Tucker reacted to the Bucks falling into a 2-0 deficit, “That was such a veteran mindset at the time of understanding that they protected home court and now we’re going to go home and protect our home court, recalibrate, and go get these wins.”
“I was like so nervous, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s KD.’ And he was like, ‘Good game.’ But then in my head, I was like I didn’t play. How are you telling me good game,” Bryant also recalled an interaction with Durant, “It was a surreal experience to move on from a matchup like that.”
“He leads by example”
Playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo at the bottom end of his 2020-21 adventure also produced memorable experiences.
“He leads by example. He doesn’t say much but just his work ethic. I remember after he got injured, I was in the practice a few nights later and he was already back in there, working, trying to get ready for the game,” he described how the Freak was looking to immediately bounce back after hyperextending his leg.
Bryant went on to find similar leadership skills in Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin.
“Those guys are very good leaders. Obviously, I am still playing with Shane. Again they lead by example,” he told Eurohoops.
“He gives the freedom to play but he also holds you responsible. If you don’t play well, he’s going to tell you,” he also talked about working under the current head coach of Panathinaikos Aktor, Ergin Ataman, from 2021 to 2023 at Efes.
“They say Kobe, they don’t say Spanoulis”
A favorite topic in comparing the NBA to the EuroLeague quickly went into a slightly different direction with the Georgia native using combined experiences from both leagues.
“I don’t think there is a misconception, maybe confusion on leagues. Americans classify basketball overseas as ‘overseas basketball,’” he said about the approach from the fans in the United States to players expanding their careers beyond the NBA and how many can consider such moves a failure, “Also, players sometimes don’t understand the fundamentals Europeans go through in terms of development compared to the highlight culture in America.”
“Everyone, when they shoot up the balled-up paper, they say Kobe, they don’t say Spanoulis,” he added, “That’s the idea. That’s everyone’s dream. Everyone wants to be LeBron, wants to be Kobe. So, I think a lot of people can see it as a failure, but people don’t understand. I didn’t watch the EuroLeague growing up. I think that’s a big opportunity for EuroLeague to tap into that American market to show people these games, these experiences, and these players that are actually very good players, who just weren’t one of the top 400 players in the NBA.”