The long of Panathinaikos Mathias Lessort is the protagonist of a long interview with Skweek. “NBA or EuroLeague? It has to do with the opportunities you have. I’m trying to win as many Euroleagues as possible and I like the situation I’m in. But I’ve never played in the NBA and sometimes, when I’m in the locker room and I feel the people talk about the NBA and I haven’t experienced it, it’s something I would like to experience. Now I’m here, I’m playing, I’m one of the main players of the best team in Europe, so I wouldn’t go to the NBA to sit on the edge of the bench find the right opportunity and a team that give me a real role. Otherwise I’m here and we are building something with this team, we are trying to win as many titles as possible and now I am committed to this. My next step is not to go to the NBA but to win.”
The arrival at Panathinaikos and the first contact with Giannakopoulos. “He called me when I was at Partizan and sent the proposal to my agent. There were some talks but it was clear that I wanted to finish the season with Partizan and my priority was to stay there. I told them that I wouldn’t respond until I spoke with Partizan. With Partizan we tried to find a solution and make me stay there, with an agreement that made both parties happy. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and then I realized that we wouldn’t agree and my contract ended there I told my agent to see what other offers did I have. And I found myself on the phone again with Giannakopoulos. First I told him that I would not give him any answers out of respect for what Partizan, the organization and Zeljko [Obradovic] they did for me and that I would not have agreed with any team while I still had a contract with Partizan and we were fighting for the title. He respected that, he liked that response because here he is with the fans and you have to respect the team you play for. And I don’t think Panathinaikos would want a player to sign elsewhere while they are in the middle of a series with Olympiacos, for example. That’s what I told them and they respected it. And after the end of the season I spoke with Zeljko and Partizan, and I understood that we would not agree. We spoke to Giannakopoulos, he explained to me what he wanted, I spoke to Ataman and he explained to me what he wanted and we immediately agreed. I liked the plan they had, what they were building and it was done.”
