by Efe Sezen / info@eurohoops.net
DaQuan Jeffries knows something about being an underdog.
He went undrafted in 2019 and spent the following years fighting for opportunities in the NBA, moving between the league and the G League while trying to establish himself.
Last season brought another breakthrough.
Jeffries earned All-G League First Team honors and another NBA opportunity with the Sacramento Kings.
And then, rather than continuing down the same path, he decided it was time for something completely different.
Europe.
“I was just at a different time in my career,” Jeffries told Eurohoops. “I wanted to come over here to play very competitive basketball, meaningful basketball.
“And I felt like Istanbul was the perfect place for that.”
There was another unusual part of his decision.
Many Americans arrive in Europe by first establishing themselves at a lower level of competition.
Jeffries is skipping that stage entirely.
His first European season will also be his first EuroLeague season.
And he does not pretend that the idea was completely comfortable.
“It was definitely intimidating, for sure,” he admitted. “Like you said, it’s my first time being in the EuroLeague.
“But I’m looking forward to it.”
A fresh start for Jeffries — and Beşiktaş
Jeffries did not arrive in Istanbul as a long-time follower of European basketball.
In fact, before Beşiktaş entered the picture, he knew relatively little about either the club or the environment he was about to enter.
“I didn’t know much,” he said.
What he did know, however, made the opportunity more interesting.
“I know this is basically a fresh start for them in the EuroLeague, and that’s one of the main reasons why I chose to play for the club.”
In that sense, the timing made sense for both sides.
Beşiktaş was beginning something new.
So was Jeffries.
And once the interest became real, his response was immediate.
“I called my agent immediately and said I was interested.
“Then I started doing my own research, seeing who they had on the team, and went from there.”
There was no long list of calls to Americans who had already made the move overseas.
In fact, there were no calls at all.
“No, I actually didn’t,” Jeffries said when asked whether he had spoken with American players with European experience before making his decision.
“I didn’t know too many people in the EuroLeague at the time, so I just kind of played it by ear with my agent.”
Getting exactly what Dušan Alimpijević promised
What Jeffries did have before arriving was a conversation with Dušan Alimpijević.
The Beşiktaş coach’s teams have developed a reputation for playing — and practicing — with considerable intensity and physicality.
So far, Jeffries has found exactly what he was told to expect.
“No, not at all,” he said when asked whether anything about Alimpijević’s practices had surprised him.
“Speaking with him before I came here, it was everything that he talked about.
“He felt like I fit the description of how he wanted us to play, and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
If there has been one noticeable difference, it is the physicality.
But that is hardly a problem for Jeffries.
“I guess it was more physical,” he said.
“But that’s a part of the game that I love.”
Comparing notes with Jaylen Nowell
Jeffries is not making the transition alone.
His teammate Jaylen Nowell is also experiencing European basketball for the first time after spending his professional career in the American basketball system.
Naturally, the two have been comparing notes.
“We do all the time,” Jeffries said.
“We just compare the physicality, the speed of the game.
“But we talk a lot about comparing the NBA to the EuroLeague.”
There are still differences Jeffries knows he has not experienced yet.
Practices and preseason can offer an introduction.
The real education will begin when the games count.
For now, though, physicality and speed have already given him a first taste of the adjustment ahead.
“We look forward to shocking a lot of teams”
There is also something deeper connecting Jeffries to his new team.
His own career has rarely followed the easiest route.
He was not drafted.
He had to earn his NBA opportunities.
He spent years moving between the NBA and G League before eventually earning All-G League First Team honors.
Now he is joining a Beşiktaş team that enters the EuroLeague with its own point to prove.
Jeffries sees the parallel.
“Being an underdog,” he said when asked what he personally connects with about Beşiktaş’s position.
“Being the first start in the EuroLeague, not many teams would expect us to be good.”
For Jeffries, that is not something to fear.
It is something to embrace.
“We look forward to coming out and shocking a lot of teams.”
Kawhi is still his guy
Long before Jeffries became a professional basketball player himself, there was one NBA player he particularly admired.
Kawhi Leonard.
Jeffries even wore No. 2 in college because of him.
Years later, after Jeffries himself experienced the NBA and saw that level of basketball from the inside, his opinion has not changed.
Is Kawhi still his guy?
“Yes,” Jeffries said.
Then he went considerably further.
“To me, greatest player of all time.”
And yes, he is still winning the dunk contest
There is another part of Jeffries’ college résumé that deserves revisiting.
He was a dunk contest champion.
So if Beşiktaş organized a team dunk contest tomorrow, would the 29-year-old Jeffries still back himself to win it?
There was no hesitation.
“Yes, I’m winning it for sure.”
The more difficult question was who would finish second.
Jeffries needed a moment for that one.
“That’s tough,” he said.
“I’d say Wenyen Gabriel, probably.”
From going undrafted to fighting for NBA opportunities, from an All-G League First Team season to leaving the United States altogether, Jeffries’ career has been built around taking the next opportunity when it arrives.
Now that opportunity has brought him to Istanbul and directly into the EuroLeague.
He knows there will be an adjustment.
He knows the physicality is different.
He knows he is entering a basketball world he is still learning.
But perhaps the most familiar part of his new situation is the one Beşiktaş shares with him.
Being underestimated.
And if Jeffries has his way, that will not last very long.
“We look forward to coming out and shocking a lot of teams.”
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