News
Article
Kevin Durant once again speaks glowingly of the EuroLeague

Kevin Durant once again speaks glowingly of the EuroLeague

Άρθρο

18 Δεκεμβρίου 20223 Χρόνος Ανάγνωσης

Kevin Durant once again speaks glowingly of the EuroLeague

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague offers elite-level entertainment with the best fans in the world on a week-by-week basis, and that has caught the attention of some of the biggest stars in the sport of basketball. One player who has never hidden his admiration for the EuroLeague is Kevin Durant, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA.

Back in 2019, during an appearance on Serge Ibaka's 'How Hungry Are You?' YouTube show, Durant got heartbeats racing on the continent after admitting that he would like to see out his career playing in the EuroLeague with FC Barcelona.

"I really want to play overseas my last year," Durant said at the time. "FC Barcelona. I would [like to play there] one of these days. I mean, that's like the second-best league in the world and the games look pretty fun. EuroLeague games look fun... It would be cool to experience it."

Three years later, Durant flew across the Atlantic to watch his close friend and AS Monaco star Mike James take on Olympiacos Piraeus in Game 4 of the 2021-22 EuroLeague Playoffs. Durant enjoyed the experience so much – Monaco won 78-77 to force a Game 5 – that he continued on to Greece to witness the series clincher at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

It was a different type of atmosphere in Piraeus, however, with Durant tweeting out a video from the arena with the caption 'The apocalypse'. Monaco went on to lose to Olympiacos, 71-54, but Durant seemed to enjoy the two games he watched.

Last summer, Draymond Green, Durant's ex-Golden State Warriors teammate, referenced the possibility that Durant could decide on a venture in Europe sooner rather than later.

"I always want to see [Durant] doing well – whether that's here [with the Warriors], whether that's in Brooklyn, whether he decides he wants to go play for Barcelona next year in the EuroLeague...," Green said on the Colin Cowherd Podcast in June 2022. "I always want to see him do well."

Although the two-time NBA champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist is one of the EuroLeague's most well-known fans, the 34-year-old Durant recently acknowledged in a post-game press conference that a move to Europe is more of a dream than a likely outcome at this stage of his career. Durant has four years left on his Brooklyn contract and is still playing at an incredibly high level.

"I was just excited [when I said about heading to the EuroLeague] a few years back. We had just won a championship, I was playing great… I guess that had me thinking about the end a little too much," Durant explained. "I've got a lot of respect for the EuroLeague, I've got friends [playing] in the EuroLeague, I love watching the games… but I really doubt that'll happen. It sounded good, though, when I said it."