Briante Weber recounts Pat Beverley story, explores Efes' distress signal / News - Basketnews.com

In the first part of his interview with BasketNews, Briante Weber names the changes NBA teams expect of him and what cast him out of the league. He also reveals the discussions he had with Pat Beverley before moving overseas and what convinced him that Anadolu Efes will miss the EuroLeague playoffs.

Credit: Buyukcekmece Credit Buyukcekmece

Say what you will, but Briante Weber is one of the most colorful and exciting basketball players currently making a living in Europe.

With his wavy, long hair highlighting every sound he utters and his speech colored by the passion that characterizes him on the court, it's no wonder a 30-year-old American guard is a man who struggles to reconcile the contradictory elements inherent in him.

Boosting with self-confidence that can easily be perceived as conceit, the former NBA veteran now declares himself a different man since he first came to Europe for Olympiacos Piraeus.

Weber played 40 NBA games for Memphis, Miami, Golden State, Charlotte, and Houston across three seasons. After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, he has spent abbreviated stints with most of his clubs. Some of them have already come knocking.

"This past season, I've been having NBA teams reach out and see how I'm doing," Weber tells BasketNews.

"They're pretty much checking on my character and seeing if I actually grew up from the kid I was while in the NBA. I'm not going to say I was perfect. But I did enjoy my life as an NBA player. Now, they want to see if I have evolved, as a 30-year-old, to somebody they can count and invest on."

In between his ventures to the NBA, Weber made stops in Sioux Falls and briefly in Rio Grande with the Valley Vipers.

Despite being unable to hold down a roster spot in the NBA, he did impress in the G League with two appearances in the All-Defensive Team in 2017 and 2018, as well as an invite to the league's All-Star Game in 2017.

And how would it be possible for a walking paradox like Weber not to play for a team that's been displaying unlikely ups and downs this season? Buyukcekmece started the campaign with seven straight losses in the Turkish BSL before recording their maiden victory on December 3.

However, since then, they've only suffered four defeats in 14 matches, culminating in a 98-97 triumph over current EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes in Istanbul on March 19.

Weber had a huge game with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, and 6 dimes while going 8/11 from the field.

Still, Buyukcekmece needed a big buzzer-beating basket by Jordon Crawford to take the win.

When referring to the contest that also included his season-best performance, Weber admits he couldn't help but notice the body language on the opposite camp.

"When we were playing them, you could feel the tension between the players. You could hear the little chatter, like when someone goes a different way and how they respond to each other's mistakes," Weber described the vibes during his team's clash with Efes.

"It's not about them verbally saying it. Even when Shane [Larkin] made the go-ahead shot, you could tell there was no energy from him hitting the shot. He walked to the bench, and there was no excitement," Weber noticed.

According to Weber, basketball is all about excitement, especially when big moments come, and games are decided on the last play.

"If I had a big shot like that, the first thing I'm doing is go to my teammates telling them, 'It ain't over, we got to get one more stop.' When a EuroLeague team is looking at a Turkish league team that isn't even in any European competition, they might not have anything to prove. But we do. So, if you don't play with the right intensity, we're going to make you pay for it," he warns.

Weber thinks Efes stand "no chance at all" of making the EuroLeague playoffs, as coach Ergin Ataman said following their latest loss to ALBA Berlin.

"They have some other things to work on and some internal things to figure out," he holds.

Watching Efes' trajectory and rise to prominence since he first got to Europe, Weber is certain that what we're witnessing this season is the end of a successful era for the Turkish powerhouse.

"It's been a good run for them, but it's time for that train to come to a stop. I think they need some fresh things. That isn't a knock to anybody that's there," he clarifies.

Weber points out that sometimes, change is for good and adds that it's time for many Efes players to have a change of scenery.

Overall, this year in the Turkish BSL, the veteran point guard averages 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on 45.8% outside shooting, on top of an overseas career-high 19.2 in EFF.

So far, as manifested in the game against Efes, he has been able to impact his team in almost any way imaginable - scoring, rebounding at a high level, or defending the other team's leading player.

"It's about me just being Briante Weber," he points out with disarming simplicity.

"I found myself being the piece they were missing at the beginning of the season. I'm the perfect plug-and-play type of player. I can play anywhere and with anybody.

I'm not a selfish player, and I adapted to what they needed. I'm in pretty good shape, still learning the league. It's my second-best season after my year in Gravelines and a confidence booster, which I really don't need," Weber chuckles.

Following his first season in Europe with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2019, Weber spent a couple of seasons in France and divided the next two between Puerto Rico, Israel, and Turkey.

It looks like he's always ready for departure, changing teams, countries, or even continents every now and then.

"My whole professional career has pretty much been place to place, starting off in the NBA. It's something that has followed me throughout my career," Weber admits.

"At the end of the day, I don't have a problem with doing it because it expands who gets to see me and how understands that Briante Weber is a great basketball player. I don't have a problem with bouncing around.

It's not the NBA, but it's still a chance to go to a different country and receive the love from the fans that I really care about. I want them to enjoy the game as much as I do."

Weber says he now has a fanbase that stretches over several countries.

"It's awesome to me that I'm getting love from different places that reach out to me to tell me that I enjoyed watching me play," he enthusiastically stresses.

Many people considered Weber a Pat Beverley type of player that NBA teams would have wanted. In February 2017, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked to break down Weber's game.

"Very highly regarded G-League player," Kerr said.

"He's quick and active. I've had a couple of scouts compare him to Patrick Beverley with Houston. Somebody that's going to be a pest and put pressure on the ball."

But ultimately, the VCU standout didn't stay longer in the league. Some years spent overseas have made him realize the changing trends that have rendered his presence superfluous.

"I'd say they wanted a Pat Bev, but the league was changing from the defensive to the Steph Curry mindset," Weber thinks.

"They wanted somebody to play defense, but they also wanted them to be Steph Curry. The NBA has changed from stopping the opponent to outscoring the other team.

They wanted to have scorers who can contain their matchups. My timing wasn't always aligned with what the NBA wanted at that time."

Conversely, a persistent defender with some considerable scoring ability can't go unnoticed in the Old Continent.

Weber calls himself "a physical player" and recalls the feelings of excitement that overwhelmed him when he realized Europe is much more to his liking than the NBA.

"When I first got to Greece, the toughness level of the Greek players was high," he says.

"I give them full credit for helping me understand how tough it is to play in Europe. In the NBA, as soon as you get touched, it's a foul. People in Europe were actually screening. In the NBA, there's a lot of slips and dives."

The former Olympiacos player concedes that playing in the EuroLeague against teams from other countries and figuring out their style of play was an adjustment. Still, it has also been useful for him to understand that he could support almost any style of play.

However, in contrast to Pat Beverley, Weber saw his game flourish in Europe from the first day he moved overseas.

The two followed opposite directions, as Beverley moved to the NBA in 2013 after three years in Ukraine, Greece, and Russia, while Weber made his league debut in 2015 and left in 2019.

"It's the same type of situation, but he remained solid and stayed who he was," Weber says of the current Chicago Bulls point guard.

"He wanted to go back to the NBA. I have the same mindset. I know I can play at the highest level. Now, it's about understanding what it takes to continue to keep growing and showing the levels of maturity in my game."

Over four seasons at VCU, Weber won three Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year awards, led the conference in steals four times, and finished with 378 assists, the 10th most in school history. His professional track record consists of 14 teams over a period of eight years.

Now, he thinks he's seen it all.

"I've been in all situations. I've seen organizations from top to bottom. I've understood what they want and how they see things. Sometimes, I have to tone back what I bring and do because not all situations are the same," he has come to realize.

Weber didn't get to speak to Beverley before the former signed with Olympiacos in February 2019, but the two had an interesting discussion in September 2018.

"It was before my last pre-season game with the Lakers, and he was with the Clippers," the guard of Buyukcekmece recalls.

"We both got two technicals against each other and got thrown out."

Even though it was pre-season, one would expect that the tension would be brought off the court as well, but that wasn't the case at all. Weber says the two actually went out, had dinner, and talked about many things.

"He was telling me that the journey isn't always how you see it. 'It's about remaining solid. Sometimes, you'll have to take a step back to see what progress will look like.'"

Weber adds that throughout his overseas career, he tapped in with Beverley a couple of times.

"He was always giving me words of inspiration, like 'Keep doing what you're doing. Everybody's watching. Don't think people don't see what you're doing and how you're managing your situation.'"

Those words would turn out to be useful when Weber met several challenges while in Europe, starting from his short-term Olympiacos stint. But that chapter will be explored in every detail in a separate article.

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