Demond Mallet announces retirement in emotional goodbye letter to basketball
The 39-year-old guard will be honored in a pre-game ceremony before Brose Baskets vs Red Star Belgrade
American guard Demond Mallet has retired from professional basketball and will be honored Friday, February 23rd in Bamberg (Germany) in a ceremony before the Brose Baskets vs Red Star Belgrade EuroLeague game, Sportando has learned.
Mallet led Bamberg to its first German League title in 2005.
The former McNeese State player had a very successful 15-year professional career in Europe. In addition to the 2005 German League championship, he won a German Cup in 2007 with Cologne, a EuroCup and a Copa del Rey with Joventut Badalona in 2008. He also led Spirou Charleroi to a Belgian League title in 2011 and was named the league's MVP. Finally, he won an Israeli State Cup in 2012 with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Here's the emotional letter released exclusively on Sportando.
"To My First Love,
Basketball, you have been the love of my life ever since I was first introduced to you and you have continued to be from then until now. Moreover, you have continued to be my life partner with whom I have shared my biggest dreams and deepest fears, my private pain and hateration. You have not only been by my side, but on my side. I am persuaded that our marriage was a match made in Heaven.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time and a season for everything and that all good things must come to an end. We are persuaded that it is time that our playing days end. It is time to hang up our sneakers and retire. Although our playing days will end, our love of the game continues. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds tomorrow and we are persuaded that we will land someplace where our love of the game can continue in a different capacity.
No one achieves success alone. Help must be provided along the way. We had a lot of it and we are compelled to say thank you. First, we must thank God without whom our love would have never flourished and the journey would have never begun and success would have never been achieved. Thanks to my Mom, my Dad and my Big Brother for all the encouragement and support along the way. I was blessed to have a world-class agent, Craig McKenzie, guiding my career. Craig, it goes without saying that you are the best of class and I thank you for all you've done and continue to do. Our journey was filled with awesome coaches like Hub Jordan, Grant Westerchill, Ron Everhart, Rick Carlisle, Ken Scalabroni, Sasha Obradovic, Dirk Baureman, Aito Garcia Reneses, Sito Alonso, Murat Ozyer, Stefan Koch, David Blatt, Bozzi Giovoni and Gregg Benoit. Thank you all for trusting and believing in us. Not only that, we had some exceptionally gifted and talented teammates along the way. We worked hard, bled and fought on that hardwood together. Whether it was the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat we shared them both together. We thank you all for the journey and the friendship that will last a lifetime. I also want to send a special thanks to Patrick King, Alvaro Tor, Igor Crespo, Misko Raznatovic, David Garcia Casanova, and Jordi Fernandez. I want to thank all the leagues I played in with my first being the German BBL, the Euroleague and the Eurocup. Finally to my love Basketball, I don't want to list all of the accolades throughout my career that you given to me but I thank you and love you for this journey. You have been an extraordinary life-long partner! I look forward to continuing the journey in another capacity, of course, with you by my side. I don’t want to say good-bye so I’ll say see you later. God bless you all.
D. Mallet Done!!"
Mallet led Bamberg to its first German League title in 2005.
The former McNeese State player had a very successful 15-year professional career in Europe. In addition to the 2005 German League championship, he won a German Cup in 2007 with Cologne, a EuroCup and a Copa del Rey with Joventut Badalona in 2008. He also led Spirou Charleroi to a Belgian League title in 2011 and was named the league's MVP. Finally, he won an Israeli State Cup in 2012 with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Here's the emotional letter released exclusively on Sportando.
"To My First Love,
Basketball, you have been the love of my life ever since I was first introduced to you and you have continued to be from then until now. Moreover, you have continued to be my life partner with whom I have shared my biggest dreams and deepest fears, my private pain and hateration. You have not only been by my side, but on my side. I am persuaded that our marriage was a match made in Heaven.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time and a season for everything and that all good things must come to an end. We are persuaded that it is time that our playing days end. It is time to hang up our sneakers and retire. Although our playing days will end, our love of the game continues. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds tomorrow and we are persuaded that we will land someplace where our love of the game can continue in a different capacity.
No one achieves success alone. Help must be provided along the way. We had a lot of it and we are compelled to say thank you. First, we must thank God without whom our love would have never flourished and the journey would have never begun and success would have never been achieved. Thanks to my Mom, my Dad and my Big Brother for all the encouragement and support along the way. I was blessed to have a world-class agent, Craig McKenzie, guiding my career. Craig, it goes without saying that you are the best of class and I thank you for all you've done and continue to do. Our journey was filled with awesome coaches like Hub Jordan, Grant Westerchill, Ron Everhart, Rick Carlisle, Ken Scalabroni, Sasha Obradovic, Dirk Baureman, Aito Garcia Reneses, Sito Alonso, Murat Ozyer, Stefan Koch, David Blatt, Bozzi Giovoni and Gregg Benoit. Thank you all for trusting and believing in us. Not only that, we had some exceptionally gifted and talented teammates along the way. We worked hard, bled and fought on that hardwood together. Whether it was the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat we shared them both together. We thank you all for the journey and the friendship that will last a lifetime. I also want to send a special thanks to Patrick King, Alvaro Tor, Igor Crespo, Misko Raznatovic, David Garcia Casanova, and Jordi Fernandez. I want to thank all the leagues I played in with my first being the German BBL, the Euroleague and the Eurocup. Finally to my love Basketball, I don't want to list all of the accolades throughout my career that you given to me but I thank you and love you for this journey. You have been an extraordinary life-long partner! I look forward to continuing the journey in another capacity, of course, with you by my side. I don’t want to say good-bye so I’ll say see you later. God bless you all.
D. Mallet Done!!"
N. Lupo
@NicolaLupo99
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