He interviewed and talked about his departure from him, the conquest of Euroleague by the “greens” and his coexistence in Monaco with Vassilis Spanoulis. George Papagiannis from the summer of 2024 plays in France and Monaco, with the 27-year-old center who left Panathinaikos in 2023 counting a total of 7 seasons the jersey with the “trifl” (2014 – 2016 and 2018 – 2023) speaking in an interview with Meridian Sport about the decision he made to leave the club, stressing that it is something he does not regret. CORVERSE At the same time he stressed that for the conquest of Euroleague by the “trifl” last season he was particularly pleased, while he could not help but mention his coexistence with Vassilis Spanoulis in Monaco. Papayannis’ words About Jokic playing in his place and being a superstar in the NBA: “I played against Jokic once, last year. He’s the best player in the world right now. Of course, I like Giannis Antetokounbo, besides being my teammate on the National Team and playing very well. But if we look who won the last title. Nikola plays fantastic. Everything he does on the field, how smart he is. It’s incredible.” CORVERSE For Sasha Georgeevich in the 2015/16 season to Panathinaikos and Radulica-Kuzmits: “I remember then that I didn’t play much in Euroleague, but I played in the Greek league and this helped me a lot to evolve, so I was selected to the NBA draft. He helped me, we stayed to work individually after practice, came scouts, said good things and I am truly grateful for it. Radulica helped me enough, as did Kuzmitz, to improve as a center. I learned from them, they were terrible about chemistry in the locker room and there’s nothing wrong with it, they’re terrible guys.” For his departure from Panathinaikos: “It was very low in score for a long time, even when I was there, which was bad for the brand and Panathinaikos’ name. I needed a change. I’m glad they won the title. It was a personal decision and I regret nothing.” About Vassilis Spanoulis: “I worked with him for two summers, except that I played against him many times. We have a great relationship. Leaving aside the fact that we are both Greeks, I know his philosophy and once he signed I knew it would be the right choice for us. I’ve said it many times, he’s got the mentality the team needs. He’s a winner, he wants to win, like all of us. He’s a nice guy. It doesn’t matter whether he’s on the field or not, he loves basketball and thinks about it 24 hours a day, how he’ll make the team better. Even if you start talking about something else, it will bring the conversation back to basketball. It is very good to have such a person at the wheel of the team.” For Nick Kalathi: “I’ve known him for a long time, he’s my brother. We’ve been together eight years. I’m so glad he’s part of the team. We missed him a lot when he couldn’t play. It’s always great to have Nick on and off the field. Even when you have a bad day, he’ll find a way, say something unrelated to basketball to cheer you up and make you think of something else. Nick is just great.” For Greece: “The most important thing is that we all stay healthy. We have very important windows ahead, so whoever is with us, there is no doubt that they will give it all to the National Team.” For his ambitions with Monaco: “I believe in our team. One of the reasons I decided to come here is that I think we have a good chance of getting to the Final Four. We played well for a while, but in the last week and half we weren’t at our level and that’s clear to us. Sometimes the season may be like a roller coaster, but we’ll be back. We believe in our abilities and talent. We must be more consistent in defence and I have no doubt we will succeed.”
Papayannis: “I regret that I left Panathinaikos, I am glad he won Euroleague”
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