Keenan Evans talks his season-ending injury, commitment to Zalgiris / News - Basketnews.com

Keenan Evans talked about his recovery process and the connection that he feels to his team, Zalgiris Kaunas.

Credit: LKL Credit LKL

Zalgiris Kaunas star Keenan Evans is having a season to remember, being one of the most offensively efficient players in the competition. He is continuing the fantastic performance he had in the last season, which was unfortunately cut short due to an Achilles injury.

Keenan Evans

MIN:27.41PTS:17.15 (59.57%)REB:2.74As:3.85ST:1.41BL:0.07TO:2.41GM:27ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

Speaking to EuroLeague Basketball, the guard talked about his recovery, his mindset during it, and his connection to Zalgiris Kaunas.

"You blame yourself, you know: 'Did I work hard enough? Did I not do some recovery things that I should have done?'" But at the end of the day, your season's over, and you have to accept it," Evans said about his mindset at the time.

"When you get the surgery, and you hear '9 months recovery,' everybody that you meet to talk about is like, 'Man, in the blink of an eye, you'll be back...' And you know, it is not that simple," he continued. "It's tough. It's bad days, it's long days... But there's also good days. For me, my thought process is: 'I want to have more good days than bad days.'"

"One of my college coaches had this rule with the team. After a loss, you had 12 hours to cry about it. That's what the mentality kind of was going into this injury. Right after I got my surgery, I cried, let all those emotions out. But after that, it's time to go to work."

"We understand how much you mean to people here," Evans explains. "When they express their gratitude and how much they appreciate you, it's such a heart-warming type of thing."

"People really bleed green there. They don't want to feel the pain to lose, they want to feel the joy and the high spirits when we win.

"I have a solid foundation with me, with my teammates and my coaches that believe in me. I want to be a member of a great legacy here. I want to go down as somebody's favorite player here. I want to win. I want to bring joy and great spirits to Kaunas and Zalgiris," he concluded.

Evans looks like he is living up to this task, as he is currently averaging 17.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per season for 18.5 PIR.

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