By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos and Turkish national team coach Ergin Ataman explained his statements about “fake Greeks” of Olympiacos, speaking to Turkish television stations HTSpor.
Just hours after the Greek basketball Federation asked him to retract the statements, Ataman clarified what he meant, picking probably the wrong English word.
As he said, “What I meant was this: The Olympiacos fans organized something and came with Greek flags. I just wish they had used these Greek flags at every Final Four. This has never happened before. In Olympiacos, other than Papanikolaou, there isn’t a single player in the final series who plays for the Greek National Team. What I said was misunderstood. I didn’t mean “fake Greeks” exactly… Vezenkov plays as a local player in Greece, but he plays for the Bulgarian national team. Walkup is a naturalized player. Tyler Dorsey is a naturalized player. Naz Mitrou-Long is a naturalized player. That’s what I meant”.
Ataman elaborated even more: “If Vezenkov plays as a local player in the league, why is he playing for the Bulgarian national team? Then he should play for the Greek national team. That was my point. His family may be Greek, he might have acquired citizenship through the Republic of Cyprus, but he does not play for the Greek national team. That’s what I meant”.
Speaking about Panathinaikos, Ataman added, making a comparison: “In our team, we have Sloukas, Mitoglou, Papapetrou, Kalaitzakis, and recently, Samodurov, to whom I gave serious minutes in the semifinal games. So, which team is more “Greek”?
According to Ataman, Panathinaikos has a different policy towards Greek players: “Our club president is also against naturalized players. That’s why we don’t use naturalized players. Panathinaikos is the club that represents Greek basketball at the national team level. That’s the reality. We have six players who play for the Greek National Team, and none of them are naturalized. The Greek National Team even made an offer for Kendrick Nunn — he publicly said it. But our president refused to let him get a passport. He said there’s no need to use such an advantage”.
According to Ataman, the fact that Olympiacos has four Greek players, one of them with no right to play for the national team and three naturalized, made ironic the use of Greek flag by Olympiacos fans: “When you look at Olympiacos now, besides the six foreigners, there are Vezenkov, Dorsey, Mitrou-Long, and Walkup. Given all this, and the fact that our opponent is also Greek, using the Greek flag felt like a provocation aimed at me. I didn’t take the bait in Game 2 because I respected that. I always say this: I respect the Greek people, the Greek state, and the Greek flag”.
It has to be noted, however, that Vezenkov was raised in Cyprus and moved to Greece during his teenage years, and also Dorsey and Mitrou-Long families have Greek origin, despite the players being considered naturalized.
“You can’t insult my country just because I am Turkish”
Ataman also drew a line to the fact that the Olympiacos-Panathinaikos rivalry touched his nationality: “You can’t insult my country just because I’m Turkish. If it were a Greece–Turkey game, and the fans of both countries insulted each other, that would be something else. But if you’re insulting Turkey just because I’m Turkish — and I’ve even said this before a judge — that’s racism. Despite all my defense, I still received a fine. Nothing can be done. I live a good and peaceful life in Greece, and I am respected. The Greek Prime Minister even called to thank me not just for the EuroLeague championship, but for my contributions to Greek–Turkish relations. I’m still on that path”.
Ataman talked about a part of Olympiacos fans who were “trying to create an incident”: “A fanatic group, supported by some members of the media, is trying to create an incident. It doesn’t matter at all. Tomorrow, I’ll return to Greece and begin preparations for the new season and transfers”.
Coach Ataman also confirmed that Panathinaikos signed TJ Shorts, and that’s also the reason, as he explained, that Panathinaikos will not make a move for Vasilije Micic, who played under him in Anadolu Efes and won back-to-back EuroLeague titles.