Deni Avdija opens up on 'terribly hard' NBA schedule and strange case with Westbrook / News - Basketnews.com

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After the 2021-22 NBA regular season, in which the Washington Wizards (35-47) secured 12th place in the Eastern Conference and did not enter the playoffs stage, Deni Avdija returned to his homeland Israel.

2-pointers this season

54%30,1Points made:30,1Accuracy:54,3%Place in standings:6Record max:43Record min:21Most made 2FGs:Montrezl HarrellTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

He sat down with journalists of the Israeli media outlet One and shared his thoughts on various topics.

The 21-year-old Avdija was among five players, who participated in all 82 matches of this NBA regular season, averaging 8.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists over 24.2 minutes.

As stated by the Israeli athlete, it was very difficult to achieve such a result.

"I have no way to describe it - you really have to be mentally strong," Avdija said. "It's already beyond basketball, playing late, and then there are flights. You arrive at 04:00 at a hotel, sleep a bit, and then there is a game. It's terribly hard and tiring.

There were many times throughout the season that due to lack of sleep, we got sick or did not feel so good, but I never gave up a game. I always had the opportunity to come and play, I did not have anything unusual or serious that happened to me. Sometimes you have to bite your lip and say to yourself, 'There's nothing to do, it's part of the business.'

There were times when I woke up in the morning and could not even get up and drink water, I was exhausted in an incomprehensible way," Avdija continued. "I did not sense when it's Friday and when it's Sunday. For me, every day is a day. I had no weekends and so on," the small forward recalled his journey in the 2021-22 season.

Deni Avdija also spoke about his teammates in Washington, saying he gets along well with everybody in the squad.

"I am okay with everyone. My closest friends are Europeans and those, who sit next to me on the plane, so Kyle Kuzma and Rui Hachimura. We sit near each other and sometimes play cards. Overall, we have a great connection."

Deni Avdija

Team:Washington WizardsPosition:SG, SFAge:21Height:200 cmBirth place:IsraelProfileNewsStatistics

Last but not least, Avdija told an interesting story about his rookie year with the Wizards (2020-21).

There is common practice that rookies have to do certain tasks throughout their first campaign in the NBA. Star Russell Westbrook, who was a part of the Washington roster that year, took advantage of it.

"What my teammates asked me to do was usually bring snacks to the plane or carry their bags - really simple things. It never happened to me that they filled my car or something.

I remember that once at 22:00, before our first flight to the pre-season game, I got a call from an unidentified number. I answered and said, 'Hello'. The person responded, 'You know who is talking to you?'.

I told him, 'No', then he said to me, 'Russell Westbrook'. I greeted him, 'What's going on, Russell?', while he was straightforward, 'You're lucky you answered because if you did not answer a second time, we would have problems'.

That's how I knew it was a good start. Then he told me, 'I'll send you a list of snacks now and I want you to bring them to me tomorrow on the plane'.

Those were the things that could not be bought at any ordinary grocery store. I had to go to certain places at great distances to buy them. It was not easy. In the end, I got everything and I was fine. Though, that's the strangest case I can remember," Avdija concluded.

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