Hatzopoulos: “It didn’t take much for Porter Jr. – I just sold a house!”

Out of nowhere, Mr PAOK made one of the signings of the year after securing former NBAer Kevin Porter Jr. until the end of the season.

Commenting on this move on the radio station Metropolis 95.5the strongman of the “two-headed north”, Thanasis Hatzopoulosreferred to the player’s “scarred” past, while also jokingly talking about the small amount of money it took to acquire him.

In detail what he said:

On Porter Jr.’s transfer: “Obviously the athlete wants to revive his career and put behind him what has happened. The cases he had in the past were solved. To be able to move forward he must prove that this was all a bad bracket. We will support him. The agreement with him is until the end of the year. You know we wanted to strengthen in the district and we felt his situation fit what the team needs. On top of that, we have proven that we never give up. We had to find a player. We said why not have a good one come along to help us move forward? It’s not just the 3rd round part, then there’s the playoffs.”

On whether there was a key person in the case: “No there is not. He is a kid who wants to rebuild his career and had an unfortunate moment. I’m not one of those people who ‘kill someone easily’, on the contrary I tend to give second chances after a mistake. Besides, I have been accused of it. Porter saw who PAOK is, appreciated our work and program, as PAOK is known for building careers, and decided to accept our proposal. Obviously the numbers don’t compare to those in the NBA. It didn’t take much… I just sold a house (laughs).”

On the effervescence that existed during the season and mainly on the reasons for the dissolution of the team at the beginning of January: “It was definitely a difficult situation. Because a lot of people ask, my biggest mistake was the coach. It was a huge mistake. This brought chain reactions throughout the year. It was not my decision to disband that team but the coach’s decision. I wanted Kendall Smith to stay but he told me (Fotis Takianos) that he didn’t count on him. So it was the coach’s decision. What’s done is done. Personally I always look forward and never give up. I will not give up until this union is out of debt. If some think they can do better, let them come to rule. If some people don’t like it, they don’t like it, what can we do. Simply, that story in January should have ended immediately and not continued. Some PAOK fans made a noise while other teams didn’t hear the slightest bit.”