Good times, bad times
Hi everybody,
It’s getting close to the start of training camp. I’m so excited!
Before that happens, I’m going to tell you a tale about my first few years in Europe. The tough times when I had to build my career. A lot of difficult experiences like, for example, not getting paid in time… I never got used to that. It was a culture shock to me. I had no clue that was the way in some clubs.
I got to Spain to play in Lugo with Breogan in 2005. That was pretty much the turning point in my career. My former agent George Bass told me, “OK, you start in a small team but if you play well then you’ll be where you want to be.” So I followed his advice, went to Lugo and had great numbers… And I had three consecutive non-payments!
Now it may sound funny, but it was tough back then. Three years in a row with the same problem? Enough was enough. So I left. I was about to left the dream of becoming a star in Europe. I told the team that the contract said that if I didn’t get paid in 21 days, I could leave the team. They were 22 days late, so I left.
I told them: “I don’t want your money. Just want to leave and I’m going back to Miami. I just want to leave. I’m not happy being around dishonest people because I’m a honest person. I have respect for myself.”
That was it. I went to Madrid, I bought my flight to Miami and thought about everything. Called Bass and he said “OK, then come home.”
But the next day, as I left the hotel and called a cab to go to the Barajas airport, I felt I had to finish my business. I swallowed my pride and decided to go back to the team. Didn’t matter if they were going to pay me or not. Not getting paid ain’t right. It’s my job. I do my job everyday to the fullest and I expect to get paid. But it didn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to finish my business.
So I flew back to Lugo and I went back to practice. We had a game against Granada the following day. I played well and we won the game. I took a lot of heat from the media for leaving the team. They said, “Oh, he only plays for money.”
Well, they were wrong about me. Now you understand who I am, and I wasn’t the player they portrayed me to be in 2005. The same people who said that now say I’m a winner and a leader. Go figure.
I’ve never talked about this situation before. People say a lot of things about me, but some people who saw me everyday said the opposite. My coaches in Lugo, the people who know about basketball… They supported me a lot. The fans too. Moncho Lopez, one of my coaches that year along with Moncho Fernandez, was later the Spanish National Team head coach and now he coaches the Portuguese National Team.
That season I averaged 20 ppg and 7 rpg. Still the media was coming at me with negative stuff. I got paid at last when the season ended. And then my agent started to receive calls from great European clubs.
Like they say, the rest is history.
I’ll be back with more stories soon. Bye!
