Two years after announcing that he would like to join Olympiakos if he returned to Europe, Evan Fournier granted his wish a little early (“I didn’t think it would happen so quickly”). Here he is, tied for two seasons with the famous Piraeus club, and in L’Equipe, he talks at length about his summer waiting for an NBA offer, but also the Olympic Games, and of course this superb career across the Atlantic which began in 2012 with Denver.
“I had contacts with a few NBA title contenders. One in particular, Milwaukee. There was real interest, which didn’t materialize,” he says of the NBA contacts. “And then a two-year offer from a team I wasn’t interested in, where they offered me to mentor the young guys. But I don’t want that anymore.”
Join a place “where it’s fire”
So there was no question of reliving what he experienced last season in New York and then Detroit, and passion took over. “If it’s to experience something strong, emotions, in a place where it’s on fire, it was 100% yes. I would have liked to experience more things in the NBA, I only made the play-offs five times (19 matches, without ever getting past the first round). But you don’t control everything about your destiny there. After the Games, I told my agent that I was keen. Olympiakos was my priority.”
Aware that there will be a period of adaptation, the former Magic winger is already thinking about the derby against Panathinaikos: “I don’t want to live what I’ve known for two years in the NBA. I’ve been bored to death. On October 26, yes, it’s going to be tough. It’s this fire that I’m looking for, that I’ve missed so much.”
Read >>> Once upon a time… Evan Fournier in the NBA
In the interview, he confirms that there was a clash with Jean-Paul Siutat, and that when he got up “everyone left the room”but also that he turns the NBA page. At 31, his career will end in Europe, and if possible at Olympiakos where he wants to settle. “I am turning the page, without regrets. I am at peace with this decision and even excited by this challenge, this new page that is opening. I am not returning to Europe by default.”
And if he had to keep only one memory from the NBA, he would mention his first meeting with Kobe Bryant: “We were at a restaurant in Orlando one night when he hadn’t played. Suddenly I heard a big voice calling out to me: “Fournier” (with an American accent). Laura, who grew up being a fan of his, told me that Kobe was behind me. He shook my hand, told me that I was having a good season, that my way of playing was interesting. I shook his hand, I said thank you, and then the whole evening I was like a madman in my head. It was Kobe, really!”
Read >>> The full interview with Evan Fournier (L’Equipe)
