Anthony Randolph talks winning gold medal with Slovenia, racist taunts after Porzingis incident
"The way we won the gold is amazing. It was one of the high points of my career"
Real Madrid forward Anthony Randolph talked to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated about his winning experience with the Slovenian national team at EuroBasket 2017.
"[Accepting Slovenia's invite] was the best thing to do in order to get exposure and develop as a basketball player," Randolph said.
On playing for Slovenia: "It was great. Everyone welcomed me on the team. There was no problem at all. Everyone pretty much spoke English. There was no language barrier. [Slovenia coach and Utah Jazz assistant coach] Igor [Kokoskov] was amazing. He was one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. I learned a lot playing for him that I will be able to take the rest of my career. The team chemistry was amazing, and just the way we went through the whole tournament beating teams. The way we won the gold is amazing. It was one of the high points of my career."
Also, Randolph talked about what happened after tangling with New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis during the quarterfinal game against Latvia.
“The nights and days following that incident I had Latvian fans, Turkish fans and people from all over, people in New York, leaving comments on my page calling me the ‘N-word,’ ” the 28-year-old Randolph said. “They were saying I was trash and that if I come to New York they would kill me. It was pretty interesting. I didn’t respond to anybody or waste my energy on stuff like that.
Randolph said he took it as motivation and thinks it helped him focus to play in the next game and want to win the gold even more.
"[Accepting Slovenia's invite] was the best thing to do in order to get exposure and develop as a basketball player," Randolph said.
On playing for Slovenia: "It was great. Everyone welcomed me on the team. There was no problem at all. Everyone pretty much spoke English. There was no language barrier. [Slovenia coach and Utah Jazz assistant coach] Igor [Kokoskov] was amazing. He was one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. I learned a lot playing for him that I will be able to take the rest of my career. The team chemistry was amazing, and just the way we went through the whole tournament beating teams. The way we won the gold is amazing. It was one of the high points of my career."
Also, Randolph talked about what happened after tangling with New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis during the quarterfinal game against Latvia.
“The nights and days following that incident I had Latvian fans, Turkish fans and people from all over, people in New York, leaving comments on my page calling me the ‘N-word,’ ” the 28-year-old Randolph said. “They were saying I was trash and that if I come to New York they would kill me. It was pretty interesting. I didn’t respond to anybody or waste my energy on stuff like that.
Randolph said he took it as motivation and thinks it helped him focus to play in the next game and want to win the gold even more.
N. Lupo
@NicolaLupo99
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