Many of us took the “believe it when I see it” approach to NBA players playing in Europe during the Lockout. Even after NJ Nets star Deron Williams signed a lucrative $5 million dollar deal to play for Allen Iverson’s former club Beskitas in Turkey, we all probably thought the NBA labor situation would work itself out in time for Williams to remain on the mainland.
But after arriving in Turkey to mobs of adoring fans at an Istanbul airport on Thursday, the time has come for Williams to actually suit up for the Turkish basketball club.
He arrived at the Beskitas shoot-around Saturday morning pretty much expecting to be a glorified spectator but was coaxed into not only participating in a practice but felt comfortable enough to play in the evening game.
Although he played in limited minutes(18 min), Deron was still able to show just why many are already considering him to be the best player currently playing in Europe, by putting up 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, giving Beskitas a 93-91 win in the Bormio Tournament in Italy.
Last Winter, future NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was the main attraction in Turkey but lost his debut game for Beskitas, before leaving the club after only 10 games due to a leg injury.
Here’s Deron’s comments about his first few days in Turkey:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
