Mavroidis: “They call me and make me cry”

THE Dimitris Mavroidis made the decision to end a long and successful career on the court, with the 37-year-old veteran center shortly after being announced by KAE AEK as the new general team leader!



Speaking on EEC web radio, he referred to withdrawal from active action, for the great moments of his career, but also for the fact that took up a position in his beloved “Union”.

Dimitris Mavroides’ statements in detail:



On whether he has realized he is stopping: “Now with the video I got it, the moments started to fly by. Many friends, relatives also send me messages, they call me and even they cried and make me cry and I cry too. I generally see that the phone doesn’t stop ringing because of my position anymore.”

On when he had decided to stop: “It’s always been there for the last few years. We talked to the team and decided that the route has come to an end. Because there is this whole relationship with the team, I don’t want to leave here, I want to be here and help the team from another position. To always be by her side, because I always give and defend this team, its principles, its ideals and what it stands for.”

On what stands out about his career: “There are too many moments, too many teams, too many good and bad moments and years. Perhaps I should single out the conquest of the BCL in Athens in 2018, where everything was made like a fairy tale back then. It was a special moment for me and for AEK and for our world together. It was an awesome moment that I can single out as one in my entire career. But there are too many from the beginning of my career.”

On why he continued to play until this year: “I believed in myself a lot. The worst moment was my injury then in Olympiakos, where the doctors told me that I might not return to this level again. Since then I believed in myself a lot, I never gave up, I worked, I wanted to go back and basically this “thirst” made me go back. In basketball, psychology counts a lot, how much you work for yourself and how sure you are about him.”

For the reason he “tied” with AEK: “I think it’s the love of the world, which was constantly shown to me and the recognition of my contribution. From there and beyond, the recognition from the president and the entire organization of AEK. This essentially created this “bond” I have with the team and the joy I feel to be here and to serve it.

Regarding the fact that he now takes over as general manager at AEK: “It includes a lot of responsibilities, from the team manager, the sports director, for the relationship of the players with the management, the selection of the players, the events and the marketing of the team. It’s not something specific, so we have a more general title. We just have the “leader” because everyone calls me that and I wanted to keep that.”

For this year’s course of AEK: “It was completely different in Greece and Europe. In Europe we had a very good run, we came one game away from the Final-4. In Greece, we didn’t have exactly the results we wanted in both the Cup and the championship. It was a strange year, like two different faces of this year. We need to have a better and similar course in both in the future and I think we will achieve it”.