Stories with a Legend! (Part 5)
Eleven years, 103 team mates. The huge Vassilis Spanoulis is "presented" on olympiacosbc.gr through the eyes of all his Olympiacos' team mates.
Untold stories, good luck rituals, character elements and many moments that stayed with them from the career of the insurmountable gentleman with number 7 on his back… part 5
KYLE HINES (2011-2013): «Vassilis is a true legend. The two things I admire about him the most, are two. One has to do with him on the court and one with him off of it. On the court, his work ethic is admirable. He would be practicing more and harder than anyone else. Both at the gym and at practice, he would always be the first. I learned from him how to prepare, both mentally and physically for each practice, each game and about the sacrifices one needs to be making to become a champion. However, what I never expected and really blew me, did not involve the playing court. I would have never expected that he would be into hip hop. Each time he would be singing or dancing, it would be amazing (laughing). He likes Lil Wayne and JayZ and many more. We would be talking a lot about it and I would be teasing him at any chance I got».
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS (2010-2021): «Sports and competing at championship levels give intense feelings and allow for intense moments, either they are victories that you have to manage, or defeats that you still need to manage. They may be about lots of success and you need to keep your feet on the ground through them, they may be about failing big, and you are summoned to work even harder to rise up again and go on. With Billy we have been through all of that, injuries, National teams… I remember my first season with the National team, I would be watching him in awe. When you have been with someone for so many years, we have been together with Olympiacos for 11 years and another three with the National teams, you share so many moments and you get to think of that person as a brother. We have been through so much together, so many successes! When good times come, feelings are even more intense and mutual respect is established. He had been an example for me in so many areas. I'm also someone who loves hard work, I love my routine and I would be trying to absorb information from everyone on the court during the three hours I would be spending there. I can say that I got the most from Billy, about how he works, how he works together with others… I feel funny because I don't like saying a lot, but Vassilis already knows about all that… We have lived through so many things, that I would never be able to describe in a short statement».
ALEXANDROS NIKOLAIDIS (2019-): «Vassilis is the greatest athlete to have played on European courts and it's doubtful we are ever going to see someone like him again. What I will always remember is the pre-season camp of my first season with Olympiacos. We were separated in two teams. The young guys were on one team playing against Vassilis, we were doing very well and had won the drill we were performing twice I think, one being against Vassilis' team. As you can see, for us young players, to win was a really hard thing, so we had been exhilarated about it. After that, we happened to play again against Vassilis' team, but we didn't even get to see the ball, he just crashed us, annihilated us. I will never forget about it, because this had been my first interaction with him».
SASHA VEZENKOV (2018-): «The story I'm going to tell you, shows who Vassilis Spanoulis was. After one of our practices in Metsovo, we were sitting in the bench and were shooting the ball from there to see who makes it. I made a bucket and I started celebrating. Vassilis wanted us to go on so that he could get even. He makes it too and we are tied with one bucket each, so I tell him that by that point everyone was on the bus and we had to leave, they were waiting only for us. And what happened? We stayed there until he made another one, and then he's ahead 2 to 1 and then we leave. He just wouldn't accept losing, not even when we were joking around».
MICHALIS TSAIRELIS (2015-16): «When I read about Vassilis retiring, I felt that the chapter 'the reason to play basketball' in the book of Greek sports has closed for ever. Vassilis had been the reason that many of us got into the sport. As for what it is I remember… It was during the 2016 finals against Panathinaikos, when he would constantly tell us 'give me the ball', but also during the 2015 Final Four against CSKA, he was in the bench and despite not shooting well in the beginning, he would be talking to himself that he needed to get back on the floor. You all remember what happened in both cases!».
MATT LOTJESKI (2013-2017): «Until I signed my contract with Olympiacos, and while I had been in Belgium, I had never watched European basketball. When I signed, I hadn't had the slightest idea about who he was, but it only took me ten days to learn about everything he had done. Living next to him, I got to realize he was something special. We became friends after that, I will always remember the 2016 finals against Panathinaikos and his wonderful family. He deserves the best».
BRANDON PAUL: «Vassilis was great. I had the joy and the honor to have him both as a team mate and a rival and indeed, his motion on the court would make you think he was a robot. I wish him the best for the next chapter of his life and now with more time in his hands that he gets to enjoy his family».
VASSILIS CHRISTIDIS (2019): «One could say a lot about Vassilis. When I first came to Olympiacos, I realized from the very first practice sessions that it would extremely difficult for anyone to guard him with pick n' roll. There were times he would make the most improbable of passes that no one of us had even imagined possible. There were times he would simply tell me where to go and stand and I would ask him how he was supposed to pass me the ball there, he would answer that I should just go there and the ball would come to me. And it would. The combination of talent and work has created a super-player».
DIONYSIS SKOULIDAS (2020): «I will never forget the terror I experienced when one day I accidentally moved his shoes from their usual place. It can't even describe it. Vassilis had a lot of good luck rituals and one of them would be to place his shoes in a certain way, so when once I accidentally moved them, I realized it and just stormed to put them back the way they were, in like five seconds? ».
IOSIF KOLOVEROS: «I want to say that Vassilis had been the absolute paradigm for all of us younger players. I remember sitting in the locker room and watching him together with Christidis and Skoulidas. I believe his dedication to his craft was unparalleled. The way he practiced, played and functioned should be taught in seminars».
*In parenthesis, the season they had been team mates with Olympiacos.
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Part 3