Brandon Paul is now in his second stint with Joventut Badalona and it is also in his second time around in the 7DAYS EuroCup. Paul made his debut in the competition with Nizhny Novgorod during the 2013-14 season and later played for Joventut in the 2015-16 campaign. He also suited up for clubs in Turkey, the United States, China and Australia before returning to Joventut. Paul is a well-traveled player who is getting ready to release his own podcast in the near future. Before that, he will be checking in, here at EuroCupBasketball.com, to tell us all about Joventut's season as it gears up to challenge for the title.
Brandon Paul, Joventut: ‘It feels great to be back'
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7 Mins read
I'm back! I was injured for the first part of the season and am still trying to get back to 100 percent, but I just try to take it day by day and I'm starting to feel better each week. I am just trying to come out here and help the team do whatever we can to win, play my role and help the team play together. I play with a lot of energy and every day is going to be a challenge for us, but we are trying to practice every day to get better to be ready for those challenges.
It feels great to be back with Joventut. I always had a good relationship with Jordi [Marti, Joventut's sports director] and my teammate Albert Ventura, who are basically two of the only people that are still here from my previous years. It's kind of familiar territory and I have some friends that still live here that I have met, 6-7 ago from my last time here as well. I actually followed Joventut all this time. I stayed following them on Twitter and I was following everything that they were doing. And then I met Ferran Bassas a long time ago with 'Ventu', and when I saw that he joined the team a few years ago, I was really happy for him and I saw that they were winning and back in EuroCup. It's always good when your previous teams do well. I wish everybody well, no matter where I'm at in the world.
“I guess I'm just trying to get as many stamps on my passport as I can! Basketball has been able to take me to so many places.”
After leaving Joventut, I played for Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Turkey and also in the United States, China and Australia. I guess I'm just trying to get as many stamps on my passport as I can! Basketball has been able to take me to so many places. I have been so fortunate just meeting so many new people throughout this game and making lifelong friendships. It's been a blessing and I love to travel. If there's one thing I do that I like to do outside of basketball is travel. Being to so many different countries is a huge culture shock, but I'm always willing to come in and learn about new cultures, learn about new things. And I would say that it's given me great perspective. I'm able to see some things that most people aren't able to see and aren't able to experience, which is just understanding different cultures and understanding that everyone's different in their own right.
I also played for Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, which was my first EuroCup team. It was a rough experience for me. I wasn't in my best phase mentally out there, I wasn't in the best situation but it helped me get tough skin. After I lived in Russia; after I was in that situation, I told myself, there's really nothing that I can't do. There's really nothing that's going to be able to hold me back. I was able to build thick skin, but I had some good teammates that looked out for me when I was there, some guys that I still stay in contact with to this day.
So, it is good to be traveling around Spain and the EuroCup with Joventut, even though we don't have much time to see anything. If I'm tired, I don't usually leave the hotel, but I try to take home something that reminds me of the city. I like to collect. If I get to a new airport, I always try to collect something like maybe a refrigerator magnet or something as small as a bottle opener that I can keep from my travels. And if you go to look at my condo back in Chicago, I have one area that’s just full of different magnets from different cities. That's something that I really enjoy doing.
I love the club's philosophy with so many homegrown players. It's amazing, and the fact that everyone's hungry, everyone's pretty much on the same page. We don't have any selfish guys. And guys just want to win. We don't really care who does what. We just want to go out there and win, compete and gain respect from everybody. And I think we're starting to get that. We are complemented by a couple of guys, like Guillem, Ante and Pau. They have won at the highest levels. So playing alongside them builds a lot of our confidence and our young players are able to learn from them as well.
Like, for instance, Joel Parra. I think he's very wise beyond his years. He plays the game so well. He reads the game very well and if you didn't know him, you would think that he's a veteran out there. He knows how to move without the ball, is a tough defender, could play multiple roles and is a lot of fun to be around. He's got a lot of energy; we like to call him our D.J. He is always the one that controls our music in the locker room and brings in the energy when we win. It's just fun to have guys like that on the team, guys that are just excited to be alive, excited to be playing the game of basketball and excited to just bring energy to others.
“We don't really care who does what. We just want to go out there and win, compete and gain respect from everybody.”
While I was injured, I had the chance to collaborate with the EuroLeague on a watch-along. That was great. It's something that I definitely enjoyed and something I hope I can do again. And it was fun! I eventually want to start my own podcast and it was good practice for me to be able to watch my old team play and see them get a win; it was pretty cool. I'm going to talk about everything from basketball to my experiences, to my travels, to my personal life. I'm going to have different guests, whether that's players I played with in the NBA, players that I played with in Europe, friends of mine that are in the entertainment industry back home... It's going to be something that I don't think anyone else has as far as the podcast community. So I'm really excited for that. It's going by slowly right now. I got some things to take care of in my personal life. But I have written down a lot of episodes and a lot of guests, and I'm going to start off with something small first, a little segment that kind of leads up to my actual podcast. But it's going to be some really fun. It's going to be interactive. I'm going to allow the fans to be able to give their input and be a part of the show as well.
We are undefeated at home in the EuroCup but play on the road against Slask Wroclaw next. I don't even know if the fact that we lost a couple of games on the road is something bad. It's just a lesson that we have to continue to learn. We have to make sure we bring the same type of energy on the road as we have at home, especially when we play against tough teams and teams that are in need of wins. It's always going to be competitive no matter where we're playing, but we just have to remember to bring the fight to them.
That's all, for now! Everyone stay safe! Everyone stay warm and enjoy some good food and enjoy time with your family and friends. And don't forget to continue to watch the EuroCup!