Brandon Paul opens up on 'thriller' season with Olympiacos, feud with Wade Baldwin / News - Basketnews.com

Brandon Paul discusses the details of a bumpy season with Olympiacos, the reasons a talented squad came up short, and what the future might hold for his former team. He also opens up on his relationship with Wade Baldwin and recounts a story with Sasha Vezenkov.

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Assuming Gregg Popovich was right to point out that Brandon Paul'stravels helped him find a spot in the NBA, the veteran guard is aware that the equation works both ways.

Wade Baldwin IV

Position:SGAge:27Height:193 cmWeight:92 kgBirth place:New Jersey, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Hence, he used the lessons from his overseas experience to gradually take up hobbies or discover some activities he'd like to keep doing long after his playing career. It all starts with understanding time management.

"You're so busy traveling, but you also have downtime. Me traveling around Europe single, I found out I have more time. So, I kept myself busy in San Antonio and tried to pick up some new hobbies," Paul, 32, tells BasketNews.

"I'm a creature of habit. I'm a TV nerd. I love series, movies, plots of different movies, and writing. I write comedy and short stories. I've done stand-up. When I'm not playing, I like to spend time with my people and travel."

The 2023 BBL champion withratiopharm Ulm wants to film his own movie at some point. If he were to do a picture based on his life, he knows which actor would portray him perfectly.

"I fancy myself an entertainer, and that's something I might get into later in life. I'm a big Jamie Foxx fan. I love his stand-up. He can do a little bit of everything. So, I'd put him in that role," he says.

Paul has no doubt that of all his former teams, there is one that would definitely make the best story. It's his one and only season with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2019-20, which had a little bit of everything and was marked by many ups and downs.

Starting from a rocky start that brought a coaching change, moving on to poor performances, financial insecurity, and players unable to deliver, and finishing on a promising note with the arrival of Giorgos Bartzokas.

While still with San Antonio, Paul recalled Olympiacos' fans pointing lasers in his eye during EuroLeague games. Even though that trend hasn't diminished in Greece, it doesn't come close to describing what his experience looked like.

"We had a lot of good and rough times," he says. "If my Olympiacos stint was a movie, it'd probably be a thriller. A lot of twists and turns, a lot of scratching of the head, and jumping out of the seats."

Paul had his first acquaintance with the Reds in 2016-17, in his rookie EuroLeague season with Anadolu Efes Istanbul. The Turkish team didn't make the Final Four, losing the playoff series to the Greeks. Despite the outcome, Paul's takeaway from the series was positive.

"To be able to guard [Vassilis] Spanoulis, compete against those guys, and eventually become their teammate was a great experience," he admits.

Credit Aykut Akici/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

"I think it opened up the eyes of Europe to my name. I had played well the year before in Spain. I shot the ball well that year. I was able to show my ability to guard multiple positions. I loved living there. Overall, I appreciated the experience, and we had a great group of guys. That's always big."

Paul joined Efes in December 2016 and stayed until the end of the campaign before moving to San Antonio.

In his short time in Turkey, he came to better understand what his mother had told him about, taking into account the political situation in his destination prior to signing a contract.

For instance, his roommate Deshaun Thomas was stunned when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut off access to some social media, such as Instagram, leading to higher tensions between the government and the Turkish people.

"It was wild," Paul recalls the memory. "I know my teammates didn't want to be too involved in it, but a lot of locals were very vocal about how they thought about all that. It was very different to see that something like that doesn't happen where we're from. It was a little strange, for sure."

However, Paul's presence at Olympiacos the year COVID broke out was stranger than fiction. It was a season filled with so many unknowns and uncertainties. In 27 appearances and 7 starts, he averaged 8.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists. The bitter aftertaste doesn't prevent him from expressing his sentiments for the club.

"I still love Olympiacos, the fans, the country, and the city. I appreciate the club for bringing me in and allowing me to experience what it meant to play in that type of atmosphere," Paul acknowledges.

In the second part of his interview with BasketNews, Brandon Paul discusses the ins and outs of his experience in Piraeus, the reasons a talented roster came up short, and what the future might hold for his former team.

He also opens up about his relationship with Wade Baldwin, citing the reasons he chose topublicly slam his ex-teammatefor his behavior and attitude following a Spanish league game in May 2022.

Read more: Brandon Paul knows where he'd like to retire, wants to find a team like Ulm

What was the high point and low point of your time in Greece?The high point was playing with guys that were fun to be around. I made some good friends on the team. It was a crazy year, so we had a lot of turnover. Guys were coming and going.

Three of the guys that I was close ended up leaving before the end of the season -- Ethan Happ, Kevin Punter, and Will Cherry, in that order. That was tough.

I wasn't too happy with Will's departure. I won't speak much about that because that's his story to tell. But being able to be around those guys and spend time with them was great.

Playing against Panathinaikos at home and beating them was incredible. Those games and atmospheres make college rivalries look like high school basketball. It's crazy.

It was a lot of chaos going on, and as far as coach Blatt, who was trying to recruit me for two years, unfortunately, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and ended up getting fired after the first game. The roles on the team changed.

We had a little bit of chaos in the locker room at times, which made things difficult for us. It was a big-time test and something I got to learn from.

What was the main reason for that chaos?It's a lot of moving parts. A little bit of ego from certain guys who didn't get along. It wasn't anything that I had expected or dealt with before, that's for sure.

In retrospect, looking at that Olympiacos 2019-20 roster that only had 12 wins in 28 EuroLeague games, one can't help but notice that several players managed to carve out a career for themselves.

Shaq McKissic and Kostas Papanikolaou are still there, while Nigel Williams-Goss and Nikola Milutinov recently returned. Kevin Punter and Wade Baldwin are now stars in their respective teams.

Not to mention club legends Vassilis Spanoulis and Giorgos Printezis, who were still around, or Sasha Vezenkov, who moved to Sacramento. Do you feel like the ingredients for a good year were there?Absolutely. On paper, we had a crazy roster. Even when guys like [Mindaugas] Kuzminskas, Ethan, or KP [Kevin Punter] left, we still had a chance to do something but couldn't figure it out.

We had two coaching changes. When you have turmoil in the locker room and coaches that are coming and going, it's a wild year. You had to learn a lot about people and about yourself.

Why did that team falter?We had a lot going on. Pick your poison. It was a tough year all around. Multiple coaching changes, multiple players who had never been in Europe before, and multiple egos colliding (myself included).

Guys were uncomfortable for many reasons, and it was difficult for the coach at the time because I feel like you try to manage the egos the best you can, but given the circumstances, outside factors made things even harder.

Wade, to be specific, caused a lot of issues within the locker room. The first day Blatt was fired, and his assistant took over, Wade was removed from the team. Didn't travel, didn't practice, or train with us. You could honestly see a shift in the energy. When he returned, it seemed like more issues came about.

I tried my best to take him and Ethan Happ, they both were sharing their first European experience, and thus far, I had NBA, Europe, and other experiences. It didn't seem like Wade was too interested in any of the advice or game I was trying to share.

Credit Olympiacos BC

Would you say Wade Baldwin was a special case, as he came straight from the NBA and not the BCL like Punter or college like Happ?It's very difficult to come from the NBA to Europe because every aspect of the game/lifestyle is different. From the organization, the way you're spoken to, everyday life, travel...you name it.

As far as Wade, just his approach to any and every conversation was standoffish. He's the most confrontational person, and I've ever been around anything like it in my career. I chalked it up to him just being misunderstood.

In my opinion, he's an NBA talent. I think he's one of the most talented and quickest guards I've seen in a long time. But a lot of things he did, said, how he carried himself -- it made him hard to be around and play with. Unfortunately, it also made him sort of an outcast.

You have to be coachable, you have to be a locker room guy and be able to adapt. Obviously, he's adapted now, he's doing his things in Maccabi, and I wish him all the best.

Have you ever talked to Wade Baldwin after your common Olympiacos stint?We played each other in the Spanish league a couple of seasons ago. After the game in Baskonia, the kid pulled his hand back in the handshake line and had some choice words for me under his breath. I then approached him to ask him to repeat it.

By then, we were chirping back and forth, and players started to separate us. Next thing I know, he spits at me while he's walking away. He did it in such a way that, following how shocked I was, I lost my cool.

This all stems from something that happened with him and the guys in Greece a few years back. We found out (with proof) that he was involved with a burner Instagram account that was trying to cause some big issues within the team. This caused him to lose the trust of the team, and no one really spoke to him for the remainder of the season.

Basketball was one thing, off the court was a completely different story. This is something I haven't shared publicly and, honestly, I probably won't unless he agrees to tell his side - because I don't want it to turn into something it's not.

Honestly, there are about seven guys from the club that know exactly what I'm talking about from being a part of it. But it is what it is. Water under the bridge, I guess? I don't hold grudges. In this life, you can only control what you can control

What would you say was the biggest difference with Giorgos Bartzokas at the helm compared to David Blatt or Kestutis Kemzura?It's hard to compare anyone to Blatt because he was there for the first game. When Bartzokas came, you immediately saw how much more structured he was. Our practices and the energy in the room were different. He knew exactly what he wanted, and he was very clear about that.

Credit BasketNews.lt/V.Mikaitis

I wasn't necessarily his player, and he started to bring his guys in. My minutes were dropping down. I understood that that's how Europe and basketball work. But I appreciated that things were a little more professional when he showed up. Guys started to be a little more competitive.

Kemzura tried to do the best he could, but you needed someone with more experience to do what Bartzokas did. He came in with a winner's mindset. I think they made the right call. You can tell he's a passionate coach, and he wants the most out of his players.

Do you think that Olympiacos played Spurs' basketball last season? I mean, scoring without dribbling the ball that much.I didn't watch them that much to make that type of comparison, but I know they played high-level basketball. Obviously, it helps when you have the EuroLeague MVP.

I'm very happy for Sasha going to the NBA. But that opened up another opportunity because [Luke] Sikma, who is another friend of mine, is a big-time signing for them.

I think he will help them a lot with his playmaking ability and his experience. Speaking of Spurs basketball, Luke is a guy that likes to play without a lot of dribbles, setting guys up. I think they're going to compete for the Final Four again.

In this sense, how do you think Sasha Vezenkov will fit in the NBA and on a team like Sacramento?As far as Europe, there might not be a better shooter that I've played with.

I used to shoot half-court shots with this kid after practices. He took thousands of dollars from me. I'm competitive, and I was trying to get it back. He was like, 'OK, Brandon. I'll give you a chance. If you make it, it's nothing. But if you miss, it's double.' I would keep going, and the guy was making free throws from the half-court line.

He can score at every level. It will be interesting to see what position he'll focus on, but he's a competitor and a winner.

Is it true that Panathinaikos tried to sign you some weeks before you actually joined Olympiacos in 2019?Yeah, they did. But they weren't even close to what I was asking for. It wasn't a sum I was going to consider. But now, they can pick up the phone again if they need an extra shooter (smiles).

They can watch the film from when I played against Kyle Guy. I did my thing. I'd love to go back anywhere in EuroLeague, honestly.

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