By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Matthew Strazel says he attracted interest from nearly the entire EuroLeague before deciding to leave AS Monaco and continue his career with Anadolu Efes.
Speaking on the French podcast First Team, the 23-year-old guard said that Panathinaikos and Hapoel Tel Aviv were the only clubs that did not express interest in signing him.
“Except for Panathinaikos and Hapoel Tel Aviv, every EuroLeague team was interested in me,” Strazel said.
The French international ultimately chose Efes because he believes the Turkish club offers the best combination of ambition and an expanded role.
“I wanted to join a team where I could compete at the highest level but also have significant responsibilities,” he explained. “I believe Efes offered the ideal balance.”
Before moving to Istanbul, Strazel ended his Monaco tenure by winning the French championship following a turbulent playoff run.
Strazel and Elie Okobo carried a major part of Monaco’s offense throughout the postseason, but the former was suspended only hours before the decisive Game 5 of the Finals against Paris following his heated comments toward referee Mehdi Difallah after Game 3.
His absence opened the door for Mike James to end his boycott and return unexpectedly for the title-clinching game.
“I wiped away my tears, returned to the locker room and felt a rush of adrenaline because I knew Mike was going to play,” Strazel recalled. “The previous day, he had told me: ‘If you don’t play, I will.’ Everyone had told him that I would play, so he did not bring his equipment. When he learned that he had to play, he went to Adidas to buy shoes and a compression shirt.”
James helped Monaco secure the championship, allowing both him and Strazel to leave the club on a high note before reuniting at Efes.
“It was a beautiful way to leave, with a title,” Strazel concluded. “I felt relieved because I would have blamed myself if we had lost. It ended well, but it could have been very ugly.”
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