By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI – In a brief pause of celebrations for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship with Fenerbahce Beko, before even checking his phone, Devon Hall went through the 2024-25 season and the Final Four.
After a left hand fracture and having surgery in November, the former Virginia standout bounced back in style and became a EuroLeague champion for the first time in his career.
“That was the hope. Try to get back to playing like yourself and being able to play confidently,” he replied to a question about the setback.
The team coached by Sarunas Jasikevicius beat defending champion Panathinaikos Aktor in the Semifinal, before taking down AS Monaco in the Final on Sunday.
“As a group, we’re persistent. Staying with it,” he talked about Fener navigating an injury-riddled season to lifting a championship trophy in Abu Dhabi, “Being able to trust each guy going in, whoever wasn’t playing much, to now play more.”
Putting up a solid bid for the Most Valuable Player award, the 29-year-old combo guard tallied 15.5 points, 2.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per contest in the two-game season-ending tournament. However, Nigel Hayes-Davis got the nod.
“I don’t care,” he stressed to Eurohoops, “We’re all holding that trophy up.”
“This is one of the goals you want to achieve as a player. I’m glad I was able to achieve it with this group,” he added.
Before continuing celebrations with his teammates and coaches, Hall also revealed reaching out to his wife, following the championship-clinching win over Monaco.
“My wife is pregnant. She wasn’t able to travel, so I called her right away,” he said, describing how the noise in Etihad Arena made communication nearly impossible.
Getting to his phone, finally, will surely extend to additional joyful discussions with his friends and family.