By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Arguably the most surprising news in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague so far this year came from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, with the announcement last week that long-time Baskonia favorite Pablo Prigioni has decided to put an end to his legendary basketball career midway through the season.
Prigioni had just returned to Vitoria a few weeks earlier, but at age 39, he decided it was time to stop playing. It was his 10th EuroLeague season, eight of them with Baskonia and two more with Real Madrid. Prigioni made it to five Final Fours – four consecutive appearances with Baskonia from 2005 and 2008, and another one with Madrid in 2011 – but could not lift the EuroLeague trophy. Prigioni made it to the All-EuroLeague second team in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons and left the competition ranking fifth all-time in assists (804, 4.3 apg.) and third in steals (322, 1.73 spg.).
An Olympic bronze medalist with Argentina in 2008, Prigioni also won the Spanish League with Baskonia that year. Beyond all his numbers, trophies and awards, Prigioni became a legend in Vitoria due to his competitiveness, winning mentality and outstanding work ethic. Asked about what people call “Baskonia character,” Prigioni – the best example of that – gave the perfect definition. “It has a lot to do with not making excuses, to compete and try to beat the best teams out there,” Prigioni told EuroLeague.net. “No matter if the opponent has a bigger budget than you, or more potential. You put everything aside when the game starts and just compete.”
Hello, Pablo, and congratulations on a great basketball career. What took you to take that decision of retiring midway through the season?
“Thank you. I left clear how I feel in the letter I published, pointing out why. I was not enjoying the day-to-day and I didn’t have that desire, that will to compete. These were signals I was getting from my body and mind. I didn’t want to do something just to do it if I didn’t have the competitiveness, if I didn’t have the inner fire I needed to be at the physical level I needed to compete. A number of things marked the way I needed to take, which was taking a step aside. I never felt that way in my career and that made me think that if I felt that way, there had to be a reason why. It was time to stop.”
How special is it for you to retire from basketball in Baskonia?
“It is best, truth to be told. In the end, every player feels more identified with a certain club that meant something more to you than others, and mine is Baskonia. This is where I played better and where I felt better. A lot of personal stuff happened to me in Vitoria and I have a great bond with the club. First of all, they put their confidence on me at this age to carry on playing, and they also allowed me to leave wearing Baskonia’s jersey. I don’t have enough words to thank the club, its fans and the city the way they treated me over the years.”
This was your 10th EuroLeague season. How important was the EuroLeague for your development as a player?
“Look, the EuroLeague was the maximum motivation anyone could have. Playing the EuroLeague allows you to play against the best teams and the best players in Europe. It has always been a great challenge and I took it that way. I enjoyed a lot competing all around Europe against the best. I always said over the last few years, while I was in the NBA, that playing the EuroLeague had nothing to envy in comparison to playing in the NBA because of its competition level and the excitement it brings. I don’t know how to express it because the Spanish League is also really strong, it has always been, but the EuroLeague was the biggest step to take in Europe.”
You played five Final Fours but could not get the title. Is it something left pending in your career, not winning the EuroLeague after being so close so many times?
“Yes, it is something that I would have loved to achieve, but it is also true that I give a lot of credit to those Final Four appearances, because most of times, we made it with less budget than other big teams. It was already a success to make it to the Final Four. Of course, once you make it, you want to win, and we were always missing something to get it. Still, I give those Final Four appearances plenty of credit because it was really tough to get there. While some teams with big budgets improved their teams every year, bringing in top-level players, at the same time Baskonia lost some of our best players, every year. It was difficult to replace them but despite losing important players, we made it back to the Final Four and played four consecutive ones. This is why I give it so much credit to those four consecutive Final Fours with Baskonia. We made it to the Final Four in 2005 and then Jose Manuel Calderon and Arvydas Macijauskas left, but we returned. We lost Luis (Scola) but still reached a fourth consecutive Final Four without him. That is a great achievement.”
Which is your best memory in the competition? That win against CSKA Moscow in Final Four action back in 2005, maybe?
“That was a fabulous game. We were able to make it to the EuroLeague final, beating a team that had given us a tough time. Before that game, we had lost five or six times against them. It was really hard to beat CSKA during the season, so being able to beat them in the semifinals, in Moscow, was great. But I had a lot of good memories – every time we made it to the Final Four was truly exciting because of what it meant to be there. These are some of the top memories in my EuroLeague career.”
A lot of Argentineans played in Vitoria and they all did really well in Baskonia. What does Vitoria and Baskonia have for you guys to feel so comfortable?
“Well, that is a good question, I wouldn’t be able to tell you right away. I believe that it meant a lot for us to leave our country at a very young age. Probably our character, the way that we are, and Baskonia are in the same direction. We all fit well in the club, like you said, and played at a very good level, giving a lot to the club. Maybe that is the association, because our character and competitive nature fit so well into this club.”
Speaking about character… Most people say you represent Baskonia Character better than anyone. From the inside, what does Baskonia Character mean to you?
“Well, it has a lot to do with not making excuses, to compete and try to beat the best teams out there. No matter if the opponent has a bigger budget than you, or more potential. You put everything aside when the game starts and just compete. It is the desire to win, the will to win and do better. It is a number of things – the fighting spirit, too. All of these things are related and have a lot of do with the way we, the Argentinean players, are – especially those who came a long time ago. We left everything behind to reach as high as we could.”
In your 10 EuroLeague seasons, you played against some of the great point guards in the competition: Theo Papaloukas, Dimitris Diamantidis, Milos Teodosic… who was your toughest opponent in this competition?
“Well, all the players you mentioned are tremendous players, also Sarunas Jasikevicius, of course. If I have to choose three of them, three really tough point guards, who respected and admired a lot, whom I considered a challenge to compete against, I would say Jasikevicius, Papaloukas and Diamantidis. There are a lot others like Vassilis Spanoulis, who is not strictly a point guard, but he was also a reference for me at the point guard position in the last 20 years. It has been a great challenge for me to compete against them. Four incredible point guards.”
How about your favorite teammates – anyone in particular?
“That is even more difficult to say! I had a lot of great teammates and one of the best things in this job is how many good friends you make. In the end, when someone is your teammate, he becomes part of your family. It would be a bit unfair just to name a few of them, because I would forget some others who are at the same level. If I have to say some, I would go for the ones I spent more time with, like Sergi Vidal. I played with Sergi for eight years. Luis (Scola), Chapu (Andres Nocioni), Tiago (Splitter) and Fernando San Emeterio, who didn’t play so many years with me but we got along really well. Then in Real Madrid, I really appreciate Sergio Llull a lot… there are hundreds of them and one of the most important things basketball has given me – the friendship of so many people.”
What does the future hold for Pablo Prigioni? A lot of people think you would be an excellent coach…
“We will see what goes through my mind from now on and the opportunities I get. I have to see what I really want to do, too. Coaching is a possibility, for sure. We will see how I approach it if I decide to go in that direction.”