VASSILIS SPANOULIS: “EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT MEGA IS DOING FANTASTIC JOB WITH YOUNG PLAYERS”

The qualifying tournament of the junior Euroleague “Adidas Next Generation Tournament Marko Ivkovic” will be held in Belgrade from Friday to Sunday, where the juniors of Mega Mozzart will traditionally participate. On that occasion, our club hosted the selection “U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade” composed of talents from several countries and led from the bench by the legendary basketball player Vasilis Spanoulis, who ended his playing career at the end of last season.

Before the start of practice in the Mega Factory hall, we had the opportunity to talk briefly with “Billy” Spanoulis about the end of his playing career, his new role, Mega, Belgrade and other basketball topics.

A few months ago, somewhat unexpectedly, you ended your playing career. When everyone was expecting your return to the national team and appearance in the qualifications for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, you suffered an injury and decided to end your career. How difficult was it to make such a decision at that moment?
– Thank you for your welcome. That decision was pretty easy for me. It was enough for me. I achieved everything I wanted, I achieved all my dreams, maybe more than that. When you achieve all the goals, it makes you happy, but sometimes you lose motivation because of all that. I am completely fulfilled, I am grateful and blessed and now I want to enjoy life and start something new.

What is obvious is that you can’t do without basketball. You often attend matches. You recently traveled to Egypt for the Intercontinental Cup match in Cairo, these days you are in Belgrade where you will be the coach of one of the teams participating in the Euroleague Junior Tournament. Will your future be connected to basketball in some way, and what would you like to do?
– Basketball is in my blood. My family comes first, followed by basketball. It is something that I love very much, I have been infected with basketball like a virus since I was a child, and because of all that, I want to give something back to basketball. I have a great desire to share my knowledge and experience. I still don’t know how it will be, but I definitely want to stay in basketball in some way and give back to it a part of what basketball gave to me.

Will you perhaps become a coach?
– We’ll see. It’s something I’m thinking about, that I really like, so we’ll see.

We are located in the “Mega Factory” hall, and Mega, together with Partizan and Barcelona, ​​is the most successful club in terms of the number of drafted basketball players in Europe. How do you explain that?
– One person is the creator of the idea of the whole project, and that is Misko Raznatovic. He is my agent, I am very grateful, because we have had a great cooperation for 20 years. Our cooperation goes beyond business, we became like a family, we are very close friends. He did an amazing thing with Mega. They work fantastically with young players from all over Europe. This hall is a factory of basketball talents. All NBA teams now have great confidence in this club. They want to watch their practice sessions, to follow their players. Now everyone knows that Mega works fantastically with young people, that they are among the best clubs in that segment and that they will always find very promising players there.

Years ago, Mega has the youngest team not only in the region but in the whole of Europe, how do you comment on this unique basketball project?
– Look at this hall, the basketball conditions that exist here. All the children who train here are very lucky. For a club and a team like Mega, to have a gym like this, great conditions, that is phenomenal.

One Greek and one Serb are currently among the best basketball players in the world. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the MVP of the playoffs, and Nikola Jokic is the best player in the regular season of the NBA league. How would you describe the achievements of Antetokounmpo and Jokic so far in the strongest league in the world?
– It is something unique, for two players from Europe to be the best in the NBA league, and the third, right behind them, may be Luka Doncic. That their games are so powerful, that they are so dominant, makes all of us Europeans very proud. This means that we are doing a really good job here in Europe and that we are sending players to America who are ready to dominate and be leaders.

How far is European basketball from the NBA in terms of quality at the moment?
– The difference is not so big anymore. Almost all teams have players from Europe, and all teams want to have European basketball players in their ranks and not only fill the roster but be among the main protagonists on the field.

In your rich career, you have played against Serbian basketball players many times. Who was your toughest opponent on the field?
– I could not specifically answer that question. I can only say that Serbian basketball players are very intelligent. that they were always very trained and strong. They know basketball very well, which is not surprising because Serbia is a country of basketball. It was always hard when I played against them.

You have won many trophies in your career, which was the most valuable for you and is there anything you regret?
– I don’t regret anything. I can’t single out a trophy and say that it is my favorite. The titles I won are equally dear to me. You know how they say, they are like children to me, so I can’t separate them and say that I love someone more. All the trophies were very important at that time in my career, so they are all equally and very dear to me.

And for the end. What is the first association for you when Belgrade is mentioned
– Basketball factory, good people, people similar to us Greeks. It is always a pleasure for me to come here and visit Belgrade every time with a lot of love.

In the end, as a memento of this visit, the General Manager of Mega Mozzart, Goran Cakic, gave Spanoulis a special gift, Mega children’s jerseys with the names of six children of Vassilis Spanoulis.

Thanks for visiting Billy and good luck on your new basketball journey!