Anton Ponkrashov regrets that he did not go to the NBA when he was called.
– In 2008, they already started actively wooing you to America; in 2010, you went to the Summer League. At the same time, you said that the NBA is not your main goal. Why?
– Because I didn’t understand a lot. Now I realize that I should have left in the first year when they offered me. For me, everything was banally simple; in the first year of my participation in Eurocamp (NBA training camp) I made it into the symbolic top five. There was serious interest from many teams, but then there was no person who would tell me that I should go to the USA, train, be visible and then put myself forward for the draft. In 2008, I was projected to be the 15th pick in the draft. It seemed to me then that the system worked differently, that I would play in Russia, the Euroleague, win titles, and the NBA would not escape me.
We recorded a podcast with Andrei Kirilenko, Sergei Monya and they said that their main mistake was that they should have gone to the NBA earlier. But they were drafted, and I did not put forward my candidacy because I did not understand the situation.
Now I realize that I should have just left and trained. I was young, they just needed to find someone they could develop. The trick of the NBA is that they need to take the conditional Luka Doncic as early as possible and develop him to an unrealistically cosmic level, like in a computer game. I had the opposite mindset: I thought that I would develop in Russia, and then calmly leave for the NBA.
Last draft year, when I was at Eurocamp, I was compared to Carmelo, LeBron and Wade, this video is even on the Internet. You immediately understand the level when you are compared to the top prospects in the draft. Of course, you are objectively losing in many ways, because these three phenomenal players already entered the NBA as ready-made superstars.
– When were you closest to leaving for the NBA?
– It was close after the Summer League in Phoenix in 2010, but a phenomenal thing happened there. The general manager who called me was fired right before the start of the Summer League. That is, I arrived, but no one knows why I showed up.
The most realistic chance is, of course, after Eurocamp in 2008, to enter the draft or go to America for individual tryouts. It’s not a fact that everything would have worked out, but this option now seems correct to me. Considering that the interest was enormous.
Russia 18 minutes ago
Source: Match TV
2024-01-03 17:20:19
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