How Malcolm Delaney's last three months with Barcelona led him to Milan / News - Basketnews.com

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"People don't understand how much I actually sacrificed. I've literally dedicated my life to whatever team I played for. That's why the Barcelona situation disappointed me. I felt like I gave my all and I didn't get that in return."

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That's Malcolm Delaney describing to BasketNews how his time in Catalunya resembled a fairytale gone bad and how the initial hopes for a long-term stay ended up in utter disappointment. Dreams don't always materialize and the guard of AX Armani Exchange Milan found it out the hard way.

You can read the first part of Malcolm Delaney's interview with BasketNews here, where the EuroLeague veteran player -among other topics- talks about his thoughts of leaving Europe permanently at the end of the current season in order to be closer to his family in the United States.

In the second part, Delaney recounts the story that got him to and out of FC Barcelona, his relationship with coaches Svetislav Pesic and Ettore Messina, and how he came to play with the two teams who had been persistently vying for his signature.

As it turned out, three months was all it took for him to change course.

In the summer of 2016, Malcolm Delaney was arguably at the top of his game and at the height of his popularity in Europe. Coming off of a career-best season with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and leading the team to its first-ever EuroLeague Final Four, the guard from Baltimore was widely regarded as one of the best players in the continent.

His inclusion in the All-EuroLeague First Team looked like the minimum of the recognition he deserved that year, as Delaney presented a very strong case for the EuroLeague MVP Award after having put together a campaign as impressive as any American player had done in the past.

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However, the prospect of landing an even bigger deal with a European powerhouse wasn't alluring enough for Delaney. In fact, once he got the chance to return home, he took it.

The Atlanta Hawks gave him the opportunity to fulfill his NBA dream, signing him on a two-year deal, which meant that Delaney could be close to his family and friends after going undrafted in 2011 and spending five productive years in Europe.

But his life took an unexpected turn. On the night that the former EuroLeague star was celebrating his new contract in Washington D.C., partying turned into a nightmare when his brother Vince was shot five times while sitting right next to him in a van.

Malcolm took him to hospital, where doctors saved his life, but couldn't do much to repair the damage caused on his legs. Since then, Vince has been in a wheelchair and Malcolm has dedicated his career to him. As fate would have it, basketball took a back seat to real-life problems.

"After the Final Four in 2016, when I went back home, I had some issues off the court I had to deal with. I was kind of numb to basketball. But the basketball part was kind of therapy for me," he tells BasketNews.

In any case, when the time came for him to make his NBA debut, the adjustment process was as smooth as it could get.

"I had to take a lesser role. We were a contender before the All-Star break, and then, the politics of it kind of came into play," Delaney says before further elaborating on what transpired in his second season (2017-18) with the Hawks.

"After my first season, I was very comfortable with the NBA. They told me that I was going to have a bigger role. So, my mindset going into that summer was a little bit different. They wanted me to play and score more."

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But the situation changed rapidly and rather unpleasantly for the NBA rookie. If the 2016-17 campaign ended on a relatively high note, as the team coached by future NBA champion Mike Budenholzer reached the playoffs, the next one was loaded with negative connotations.

The Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and their overall record (24-58) was only good enough for the last place in the East Conference standings. Perhaps that had been the plan all along.

"Once the season started, the ownership decided that they wanted to rebuild and pretty much tank," Delaney says and adds:

"I hate losing and didn't really enjoy my second year in Atlanta. It took my confidence away as far as basketball because it wasn't about winning. I also had an ankle injury. So, I could have stayed there because I sure would have made the roster the next year (2018-19)."

But he didn't. Serving as the 10th or 11th man on the roster wasn't exactly what he had signed up for. Hence, after 127 NBA games, averaging 5.7 points and 2.8 assists over 18 minutes, he changed continent again.

"I wasn't happy with basketball. I wanted to get my confidence back and get healthy. That was the main reason why I went to China," he explains."The situation there was great, and I wanted to have fun playing. I enjoyed my time in China. It went well, but everyone knows how the politics of China is. In February 2019, I had a decision to make: stay for the playoffs and share minutes with the other two Americans or sign with an NBA team for the playoffs.

I decided to stay home, worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks, who had my previous coaching staff in Atlanta, and wanted to bring in a guard. But that year, Pau Gasol decided to wait until after the free agency deadline to decide to have surgery. So, they lost the roster spot, and that affected my situation."

As soon as the opportunity for an NBA comeback vanished and the season in China was over, teams from Europe came knocking.

"I had some big offers even to just finish the year," Delaney says.

But the idea of going back wasn't fascinating enough. What's more, Delaney had it all planned out.

"When I left Lokomotiv, it was a plan for me not to go back to Europe. I was tired of being away from home for 10 months at the time. I took a team to a Final Four and, making the All-EuroLeague First Team, I thought my time was up in Europe and just wanted to move forward with my career."Going into the summer of 2019 and as he had already turned 30, the Virginia Tech standout received a phone call from the man who later became his coach.

"Messina called me early, and I told him out of respect that I wasn't interested in coming back to Europe. As soon as he got the job, he called me. That was before they signed Shelvin Mack," Delaney reveals.

Later on, other teams got in the mix.

"I turned down a lot of money. It was CSKA, Milan, and Barcelona. I told my agent, "I don't care how much money and who's calling. I don't want to hear it. I'm locked in on getting back to the NBA." From that point on, Delaney received several invitations from NBA teams to join them, but none of them was for a guaranteed contract.

"I waited out that summer, and Golden State called me. They wanted me to come for a workout and a minicamp. I went there in September, and after the minicamp, they told me to wait around for another week.

I went to New York with the Knicks for the week, but -as I told them- I was too valuable of a player to sit around for a week and for free, without any contractual obligations.

I had some big deals in China, and that's when Barcelona called me."

The offer from the Spanish giants came at an advanced point of the pre-season and Delaney provides the context for his decision to join a mighty roster that included several big names. "I looked at the roster, and despite not wanting to come back to Europe, I thought it would be a good opportunity to play with a great team."

Lokomotiv Kuban had to get past Barca 3-2 in the 2016 playoff series to make their first-ever Final Four. Delaney averaged 15.4 points and 4.8 assists over those five games, two of which took place in the capital of Catalunya.

"Barcelona was my favorite team in Europe. When I left Loko, if I ever was to come back to Europe, it would be for them," Delaney confesses and breaks down the reasons.

"One, because Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in Spain. They were one of the first teams to make a strong push and offer to get me while I was in Lokomotiv. We already had a dialogue back and forth between us. My agency (YouFirst) was based in Spain. There was always a talk between me and Barcelona. And then, just talking to a couple of guys. I played with Victor Claver at Loko, and when I saw that Niko Mirotic and Cory Higgins signed there, I felt like we could win EuroLeague."

For someone willing to give up on an NBA comeback, it looks like a pretty easy decision to make. But for Delaney, time was running out and he was still without a team as teams everywhere were finalizing their rosters.

"Of course, I wanted to play in the NBA. But my security was most important than waiting around for an NBA deal. That's when I decided to take the Barcelona offer.

On September 12, 2019, he penned a one-year deal with an option for another season with the Spanish and EuroLeague powerhouse. His addition was the icing on a cake that already included repatriated European stars such as Nikola Mirotic and Alex Abrines, and also Cory Higgins, Kevin Pangos, Brandon Davies, and Thomas Heurtel.

"I signed late with Barcelona. Their budget was pretty much done for that season because they had paid Mirotic, Higgins, and all those guys," Delaney remembers.

Inevitably, the team's latest and last signing had to settle for less money and playing time. As he says, those were the first of many sacrifices he had to make in order to play for Barca.

"I had just come off of a 5-million-dollar contract in the NBA, and I had turned down a lot more money in China to go to Barcelona. So, I went there to win."

Nevertheless, there was one significant detail regarding his deal with the Catalan side.

"I told them, "If I do come back to Europe, my plan is to retire where I sign." I signed for a lot less money than I would have taken anywhere in Europe, but I had a player option for the second year. This was just security.

I told them that after the first year, I wanted to sign a long-term extension. My plan in Barcelona was to go there for a year, then sign a three-year extension and retire. They knew that.

I told my agent, "I know I'm going to play well." That second year, we all know I wasn't going to play under that contract because I would have been worth a lot more money anywhere else if I decided to leave."

When the EuroLeague season was cut short in 2020, Barca presented a 22-6 balance, tying Real Madrid for second place in the standings and boasting an impressive nine-game winning streak that included road victories over Fenerbahce, Valencia, Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow and ALBA Berlin.

The team coached by Sevetislav Pesic looked unstoppable. Delaney's playing time never exceeded the 30-minute mark, but the 1,91-meter guard managed to be quite impactful, averaging 10.2 points on 43% 3-point shooting and 4.8 assists for 2.3 turnovers over 22 minutes on the court.

Furthermore, he was also a fan favorite.

"Throughout the year, the fans loved me there, and I embraced everything in Barcelona. We had a meeting with the club, talking about an extension around January-February (2020)."

For a player that had been the undisputable leader of a Final Four team, being assigned a new role on a team whose sole purpose is to win trophies and anything less is considered a failure, can be a hard task to accomplish. Delaney pulled it off, but that doesn't mean he was happy with the cards he was dealt.

"I didn't like my role on the team and how I was being used. I went there, I didn't start, and I was told that was because Barcelona was too big of a club for somebody to come in late and start.

I accepted it. I said, "I will come off the bench, and I'll do whatever it's necessary."There were some situations that year where I would score 18 points in the first half, and then I'd play seven minutes in the second half. It got to the point where I started to get frustrated. I went to the management about it in February or March, saying that I was unhappy with my role there. It was about how I was being used.

Nobody that I've ever played for in my 11-year career can tell you I've ever complained about how many shots I got, how many points I scored, or anything. I don't bring that to anybody's attention because, for me, that's not important. But when I feel I'm not being treated fairly on the basketball court, I have to speak up," he stresses.

When COVID forced most European cities to impose lockdowns and the EuroLeague to take a break, which proved to be permanent, Malcolm Delaney returned to the USA. Over the course of 18 days, he spoke to Eurohoops twice.

The first time, he expressed his wish to stay with Barcelona for a long time, but almost two weeks later, he said he wasn't feeling well with his role on the team and pointed out that Barcelona were unwilling to discuss an extension.

Despite being at odds with his role and the way they way Barcelona were handling his case, Delaney says he decided to express his discontent only after he realized that the gap between him and the club had become impossible to bridge.

"I didn't say anything about my role until after I left because winning was more important for me," he maintains.

One of the first thorny issues both sides had to face was how and whether the player would be granted permission to return to the United States.

"I wanted to go home because I was the only single player on the team. I was alone. Everybody else had their families, a situation there. I knew we weren't going to play anytime soon," Delaney explains.

Despite their initial reluctance, Barca's management eventually granted Delaney's request to return, so that he could train individually back home.

"The United States government said that all Americans outside the country should go home in case they got stuck. The president of the club (Josep Maria Bartomeu) said that nobody can go home.

I said that I need to go home and that if I can't come back, I accept full responsibility. They told me, "OK, just don't tweet or post anything about it on social media once you get home." So, I didn't."

On his way to the States, Spanish media reported that Delaney had left without the club's permission and that he demanded to be handed his passport, which the club had been keeping as a precaution. "A whole bunch of lies started coming out," Delaney comments.

Regardless of where all that information was coming from, the American player was rather surprised to read stories about him supposedly dumping the team.

"So, I'm back home, waking up to fans asking me why I wanted to leave and newspapers making up stories," he continues.

His contract included an option from the club to extend it for another year but also for Delaney to become a free agent if he chose to do so before June 22, 2020.

"When I talked to my agent again, Barcelona said they didn't know what the financial situation would be like, and there was no extension on the table anymore."

That left little if any room for discussions, according to the player. But there was another incident that would be the last straw.

"The team started doing team workouts on Zoom, and they didn't include me," Delaney argues.

As the player had revealed in his May 2020 interview, Barcelona were firm in their decision to hold those practices at an hour completely unsuitable for Delaney to participate. Thus, practices started at 11 a.m. Spanish time, but Delaney would have to be up before 6 a.m. every day back in Baltimore.

That move signaled his exclusion from all team activities and the first important decision for Delaney's future.

"Once that happened, I told my agent that I was definitely not happy with the way they were treating the situation with COVID and that I should start looking for other stuff."Then, a familiar face entered the picture, proposing a new destination and different working conditions.

"Coach Messina called me. I hadn't felt so comfortable with anyone besides coach Bartzokas," Delaney admits.

The first conversation between the two of them went so smoothly that Delaney was totally convinced about where to sign next.

"From the first talks we had, I knew that I wanted to play for him," he firmly repeats.

"It was pretty simple. We didn't talk about money at all."

For a player who wasn't even speaking with his previous coach for quite some time, that constituted a significant shift.

"When COVID hit, I wasn't even talking to Pesic. He didn't talk to me. I don't know why. You have to ask him. I only know that I was injured, and from that point, it went downhill," Delaney reveals.

The situation with Messina was indeed different. That's why Delaney was pleasantly surprised.

"I could actually talk to my coach and that he could explain what he could do for me, what they could provide for me in Milan, and how he wanted to push that club forward. He was running it more NBA-style, with player recovery and modernizing basketball," Delaney explained.

The contrast with the situation that he had experienced in Barcelona was particularly sharp.

"In Barcelona, it was more of a fight against modern basketball," Delaney contends.

"Coach Pesic is old-school, Serbian. He didn't like NBA basketball and modern-style basketball. Everybody was pushing towards one practice a day. Certain coaches just want to be in full control."

He and Pesic, whose second stint with Barca lasted two years (2018-20), had worked together in Bayern Munich during the 2013-14 campaign. While some people remain the same as time flies, others undergo changes. Delaney points to the reasons why the second part of his relationship with the current Serbian national team coach went south.

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"When I played in Munich, I didn't care because I was young. But once you get older, you get more experience on what you want. For myself and for the whole team, basketball was going in a different direction.

Old Serbian coaches don't change their mentality. It's always the Serbian style."

Messina, a decade younger than Pesic, added some NBA wrinkle to his European philosophy.

"Talking to him was a totally different vibe and energy. For me, it just fits what I want more," Delaney says before coming to the inevitable conclusion:

"It was three months full of stuff built up that led to the easy decision to come to Milan."

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