The best Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov, who became only the second Bulgarian to play in the National Basketball Association of the USA adn Canada (NBA) during his stay in the sacramento kings, said that he is happy to have accepted this challenge .
Vezenkov was a guest on the Triple Threat Show podcast and talked about his experience in the NBA, about the decision to return to the Greek “Olympiakos”, reports BTA.
“I owed it to myself to try out against the best because it’s completely different than watching on TV. The talent there is unbelievable. I was one of the guys that said, ‘They don’t play defense, they’re not like this or like that.’ .But I was totally wrong. It’s the best players in the world, 100 percent. You have to guard players like Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox or Jimmy Butler every single night. It’s really hard. The environment in Sacramento was great. I enjoyed parts of it though that other things were arduous.But if I had to do it again,I would 100 percent do it again,” commented Alexander Vezenkov.
“What bothered me about the NBA is that they say, ‘You have time, you’re a rookie.’ But at the same time, I’m 28, 29 years old, and I felt like I didn’t have time. It all started from the beginning. On them they don’t care who you are, what you’ve done or where you’ve played. You’re a rookie even at 29. Your chances in training are limited and you have to prove yourself every time I felt that they really understand the Euroleague, but they just don’t know the basketball players and they don’t care. You’re just another player until you prove otherwise.”
“In my career I have had a lot of difficulties even when I was younger at Barcelona and Olympiakos. But this time, being closer to the best players, I tried to learn from what they are doing or have done. They play 82 games and I wanted to see if they work differently. What I have kept from this stage is the ability to put yourself to the maximum even if you are tired. After some trips when they have played 35 minutes, but they go to the gym and work. They work on their game even after a lot of minutes on the court. In Europe,when you play one game or 30 minutes,the next day we can say,“OK,I’m tired,I’ll take it easy.” But in the NBA, they do that every day. The work ethic is exceptional.And it’s not just during the season. I talked to them about the break, and they work hard,” said Aleksandr Vezenkov, who, according to BasketNews, is the basketball player with highest paid contract in the Euroleague – 3.7 million euros per year.