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GY: I’m going to be completely honest with you. What was the mindset and what really made me turn around… It was after Boston, so I signed to China, and then it didn’t go well with the team, and I had to stop and go back to France, and this was before COVID. I spent, like, a month, once and a half maybe with no club, no teams, like zero.
I was on the side hoping, I don’t like to say that like that, but it’s the truth. You hope that somebody gets hurt so you can just, or get fired so you can take somebody’s spot.
Going through that process and just waiting like that, I was like, no, this is – it’s impossible. This is not what I want. A couple years ago, I was drafted first-round, pick 16. How am I in this situation? I put myself into the situation to really tell me the truth about what was not right, what would I do wrong and stuff like that. I questioned myself a lot, then I went and started working out. I was like, get that mindset that, okay, I’m gonna prove everybody wrong.
Me, I’m a guy that watches everything that’s going on and I was hearing some people talking about me, Is he the next bust or this or that? But it just motivated me more. Now I wanted some more, and I wanted to prove people wrong. I wanted to prove myself that I was able to do it. And then I started going for like a month and a half, two months, in the gym every day, waiting for that chance.
And then ASVEL finally did give me a shot. I had five games there with them. But it was five games that I played my hardest. And then after that, they wanted to sign me for the Euroleague and everything. Going from there and then being able to go to Real Madrid, National Team and then go back to the NBA, it has been an amazing journey.
I always keep that mentality of never give up and try to prove people wrong. And then we’re here today.
