Patrick Beverley is preparing for another chapter in Europe, joining French club Boulazac for the upcoming season after spending the previous two years with PAOK in Greece and Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel.
During an appearance on Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s “Thanalysis” YouTube show, Beverley discussed how different European basketball can be from the NBA and argued that even some of the league’s biggest stars would struggle to make the transition.
“They have no clue. It’s not a disrespect to everyone’s game physically on what they can do, it’s just mentality wise. There are NBA superstars right now who couldn’t play in Europe. I truly believe that. They simply couldn’t.”
Beverley has considerable experience on both sides of the Atlantic. Before reaching the NBA in 2013, he played in Ukraine, Greece with Olympiacos and Russia with Spartak St. Petersburg.
According to Beverley, succeeding in Europe requires players to adapt not only to a different style of basketball but also to a culture in which the team and coach have significantly more control.
“The adjustment is completely different. Everything revolves around the team. The coach controls everything. It’s almost like a college team made up of adults. The team comes before each individual. You sometimes share a hotel room with a teammate.
“Travel isn’t organized for your comfort like it is in the NBA, even though it’s improved tremendously. And in the game, you can decide: ‘We’re not taking any shots until there are six seconds left on the clock.’ Everything is built on defense. It’s totally different.”
