THE Kevin Pander is one of the most talented scorers in Europe at the moment wearing her shirt Barcelona. His career on the old continent began in Greece from the Laurelwhile along the way he played for AEK Betsson and Olympiakos.
The American Regional gave an interview to Amerikanos24 and referred to incidents from his career in our country, such as when he was almost “cut off” by Christos Serelis but also the coexistence with him Vasilis Spanouliswhom he deified.
In detail what he said:
For Lavrio and Serelis: When I first came to Europe I knew nothing about it. I didn’t even have a passport two weeks before I traveled. I have a crazy story. Serelis, who is Ataman’s assistant at Panathinaikos, and I are very close. He was my coach when I was at Lavrio in my first year. We played with Panathinaikos that year. We were at home and it takes me out of the game. I was used to playing 37 minutes in college. He gave me his hand, I didn’t give it to him. I ignored him. He came and talked to me and I ignored him again. And he tells me “go to the locker room”. I was trying to adapt and was even in the “I don’t care” phase. And the next day we had a meeting and I was to be cut. In the end they didn’t cut me off and since then we have fixed our relationship. Even today we are in touch. It was a difficult time but I persevered.
For the reasons that Americans often “snob” the Euroleague: We didn’t grow up watching Euroleague. So simple. An American player does not grow up watching Euroleague. NBA only. And it’s not our fault. It’s just American culture. The NBA is the best league and you see that. We didn’t grow up saying “we want to go to Europe”. It’s just not on our minds. this is not a bad thing for Europe. But you have to go to Europe to understand it.
On the coexistence with Vassilis Spanoulis at Olympiakos: He was totally focused on training as well. One thing I had noticed, when I was at AEK we played rivals and had a fight during the match. And that’s what made me really respect Billy. From my experience as a teammate of his he has this killer mentality. He has that “killer” in him. He tries to “kill you all the time”. Whether it’s in practice or in a game.
Yes, he looked serious, but he’s just focused. Do you understand what I’m saying? One hundred percent focused. So, because of that I think once I got to Olympiakos, I feel like we clicked straight away. Because I have the same mindset. I was talking to him and he was giving advice on everything. He told me to be myself no matter what, you know what I’m saying? And always having that killer mentality. Like I said, I already had it, but just seeing him at that age. At this point in their career not many have that level of killer in them. And he was obviously a different player then compared to his prime.
But he just has that mentality. I saw it every day. At that age he was always in a weight room, working his body. Always taking whatever extra shots were needed. He moved like he was young. I definitely learned from Spanoulis. I tried many times to convince him to play 1v1 after training but I didn’t succeed.
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
