Βy Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo, in his recent interview, said that playing in Europe is not out of the question, and Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman didn’t let the opportunity slip away.
When asked about the issue, Ataman’s answer was essentially an open invitation for Giannis to play for Panathinaikos.
As the Turkish coach said: “Giannis is my favorite, the most complete player in the NBA. When you watch him, you think, ‘How are we going to stop this game?’ He plays guard, he can run in the open court, and he can shoot in the paint. He can score from anywhere, and he plays defense. He is a player whom I greatly admire. I don’t know if circumstances will ever bring us together. Giannis himself has stated, “I want to play in Europe one day”. Dimitris Giannakopoulos has seen this too. He wanted to sign Jokic, but maybe Giannis will play for Panathinaikos in the future!”
Ataman was also asked about the comments made by Dennis Schroder on social media about him, and he didn’t hold back: “Schroder is a good player, but I can’t comment on his personality issues. For me, leadership, humanity, and a humble approach are more important than good performance. Schroder doesn’t need to apologize to me. Everyone has their own opinions, and I don’t care. But when I sign a player, I first look at his personality and his limits of dignity. They won a game they thought they had lost, and players experience an extra level of excitement in such situations. Schroder, in this video, also had a personality problem in the midst of that excitement. It’s not that big of a problem. I attribute it to his young age. NBA coaches should think about a player who plays for a different team every year. That already demonstrates Schroder’s situation.”
The game Ataman is referring to is the recent Eurobasket final, where Germany beat Turkey with the Panathinaikos coach serving also as the head coach of his country’s national team.
It was a historic chance for Turkey to win its first gold medal, and Ataman still believes that his team was ready to do it: “We were in control of the game the whole time. Before and during the game, I always believed we would win. It never even crossed my mind that we would lose. In the last two minutes, we conceded a three-pointer, and our opponent took the lead. That’s when we panicked. At that moment, we lost the momentum of the game. Alperen Sengun, who was playing better than everyone else, missed a layup under the basket in the last minutes. In those 50 seconds, the game got away from us.”