- Surprising statements from a former Barça Basket player about playing in Europe
- The highest paid players in the Euroleague basketball
- “I would have left sooner”: Jasikevicius responds to the abandonment of the fans
- Photo: Eibner-Pressefoto/Ryan Sleiman – Icon Sport
Every year there are more NBA players who take the step of playing in European basketball by not having the opportunities for minutes on the court, and fill the Euroleague with veteran stars. Some of them, however, They arrive when they are young without having had a place in the considered best league in the world, and that was the case of a former Barça Basket player who has caused controversy for some statements.
Nigel Hayes-Davis on Shane Larkin‘s podcast: “I rediscovered the joy of basketball”
Nigel Hayes-Davis is one of the players with a past at Barça that Saras Jasikevicius has managed at Fenerbahce since his arrival on the Turkish bench. The player, who spent one season with the Blaugrana team, and who It earned him the King’s Cup title in 2022. In Türkiye he has increased his record with a Turkish league and a cup, as well as being part of the Best Quintet in the Euroleague in 2023-24.
Nigel Hayes-Davis He is one of the stars of the Euroleaguebut, however, he seems not to be entirely happy with playing in Europe instead of the United States, as he has confessed with some controversial statements on the podcast Off the RECourt from fellow player Shane Larkin:
Nigel Hayes-Davis is on!@FBBasketbolpic.twitter.com/5jJvmR3IYG
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Türkiye (@EuroLeagueTUR) November 8, 2024
“I rediscovered and I discovered a level of joy for basketball that I didn’t know I had or that I hadn’t seen in a long time since I was in Europe. Because there is no joy playing basketball in Europe,” the Fenerbahce player, who is averaging 16.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in the 8 games played at the start of the season, commented in the aforementioned podcast.
In this episode with Shane Larkin on his podcast, Nigel Hayes-Davis linked his opinion on European basketball with the dream what it was to be part of the United States team in the last Paris 2024 Olympic Games: “The most incredible moments were when I was on the bench. I would text my mom or my boys. In Europe, there is always a feeling of anger. “You sit next to someone and they are yelling because someone scored, everyone is angry, the coach turns around,” he expressed.
