Sasha Vezenkovleader of Olympiacos and one of the best players of the old continent gave a long interview to the Greek podcast GBL TV to talk about his career. In the story he focused on a very curious anecdote regarding him, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, which is the only thing he regretted in his career.
Dire no a Jokic
About Barcelona, I’ll tell you, it’s an interesting story. During my first year I played little, 7-8 minutes per game, I didn’t have the right mentality. My agent told me to declare for the NBA draft. I replied: “Which draft? Nico, who should take me if I don’t even play in the Euroleague?”. I didn’t know how the NBA worked, I thought: “If you don’t play in Europe, how can you play there?”.
In that period, Jokic called me on the phone, but not the Jokic of now, three-time MVP, but the one from 2016. He told me: “You are wanted by our team, do you want to come?”. I replied: “Nikola, I would come, but I don’t even play here”. He told me: “It’s different here”. They had just signed Juancho Hernangomez and were aiming for the Europeans. Malone, the coach, also called me, telling me they wanted me, but I didn’t feel like going. I had the insecurity of a twenty-year-old: “I’m not playing here, I’m staying to play.” The following year, with coach Bartzokas, I played better, but Denver lost interest: “You’re 22 now, we wanted you last year.” I think that’s the only thing I regret. When people like that call you, and then become NBA champions or the best players, you think about it a little. But I’m happy with my journey. It’s a story that many people don’t know.
Olympiacos and Covid:
Then coach Bartzokas arrives, and little by little my role grows, as does the pressure, but I don’t like to call it that. For me there should be no pressure. We do what we love. That’s one of the advantages of the NBA. In the end, we play a sport that we like, to entertain the public and feel important. In the Balkans, however, you always want the result, the titles, the victories. This is because people are more involved, there are many journalists, everything is amplified.
I have to say that COVID has helped me a lot with my work. I had time in 2021 to train a lot, and with time my confidence grows. The more you work, the more confident you become, because you know you worked hard. If you lose confidence in a match, it will come back through work. I try to leave the pressure out, demonstrate in every match that I am important, that I help the team win, but I also try to build an environment that supports me without making me feel too much pressure, but that knows how to guide me.
During COVID, I remember isolating myself in Bulgaria, working so hard. The arena was always open for us. Four months in 2020 and four in 2021 allowed me to improve a lot, both physically and technically.
And the second NBA call arrives:
When the NBA came along, it was a tough decision. I didn’t do it for the money or the prestige, but I owed it to myself. A boy born in Cyprus, to Bulgarian parents, who arrives in the NBA. It was hard, but I’m happy I tried. It was a unique experience, despite the difficulties.
What did I like about the NBA? The facilities are incredible. You can stay in the sports center all day, all you think about is basketball. You had access to the building even at night, you could train at any time. This struck me a lot. Obviously, the respect for the players is very high, everything is organized in a big way.
