By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Alec Peters is arguably playing his best European season to date. In his first season as a full-time starter, Olympiacos forward has posted the best numbers of his six seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Talking to Joe Arlauckas on another episode of The Crossover, the American forward opened up about his love for basketball, European beginnings, and journey, figures that had a big impact on his career, and Olympiacos‘ chances to take the EuroLeague crown this season.
“Football was my go-to sport at the time. I was the quarterback of the team, I had a real future in that. Coaches telling me: ‘This is your future.’ Colleges telling me: ‘Hey, this is your future.’ I just did not like playing football as much as I loved playing basketball. Thankfully, that summer between when I was 15 and 16 years old, I grew three inches, got to about 6’6”, got a little bit faster, got a little bit stronger. Basketball started becoming a little bit easier for me, and I got good enough to earn a scholarship at Valparaiso,” Peters shared.
He was introduced to European basketball through CSKA Moscow and immediately won the EuroLeague title. Peters remembers how he joined the Russian club.
“This isn’t just an offer from a EuroLeague team that’s been fighting for playoff spots. This is CSKA. This is a team that’s winning right now, that has the roster that nobody can compete with, and all they need is you. Coach Itoudis is like: ‘All we need is someone like you,’” Peters said. “I was blessed by Coach Itoudis to have an opportunity of a lifetime to come in right away.”
The 28-year-old then spent a season with Anadolu Efes but left for Baskonia before the Istanbul team started winning European titles. He spent two seasons with the Vitoria team and had a chance to work with Dusko Ivanovic.
“What he did for me set me up for the rest of my career in the EuroLeague. The opportunity he gave me. He helped me find a lot of things about myself through the difficulties of training camp, through all that, that have stuck with me today.” Peters said of Coach Ivanovic. “He showed me what it really meant to be in shape to play the game of basketball the way that I could potentially play it. I give him all the credit in the world for that.”
After EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov left to join the Sacramento Kings in the NBA, Alec flourished in the Olympiacos jersey. Now he is one of the most important pieces of Georgios Bartzokas’ squad that aims to sit on the European throne, and he even extended his contract until 2026.
“Whatever position we fall in, we like our chances against anybody. It could be Barca, Monaco, Pana, Madrid. It doesn’t matter to us. We are in that kind of headspace as a team that like we are starting to feel like our best days are coming at the right moment,” Peters said to Joe Arlauckas on The Crossover.