Donatas Motiejunas (Monaco): “I want to make the Euroleague playoffs and win the French championship”
The pivot of AS Monaco, Donatas Motiejunas (2.13 m, 21 years old) gave himself up for the Lithuanian site Basketnews, in particular on his return to Europe and his ambitions.
The Lithuanian big man had not played on the mainland since Gdynia’s time in 2012. After spending 251 games in the NBA, he had chosen the Chinese option for four seasons with an interlude again in the American league, to the San Antonio Spurs.
“After my back injury in the NBA, I was looking for a team where I could regain confidence and play a lot of minutes. At that point, China introduced itself. Only two imports (foreign players) are allowed there. China was therefore the perfect resuscitation for me from a player’s point of view, to regain my rhythm and my confidence. I was really happy to be there and enjoyed it. Last year, with the whole COVID situation, there was a lot of uncertainty. We didn’t know if the Chinese League would be with or without imports. All this decision making dragged on until the end of August and I decided not to wait any longer, to come back to Europe and see how I was going to do here.
Motiejunas says it was coach Zvezdan Mitrovic who told him “Really turned his head”, and which decided him to sign for Monaco, and that the arrivals of Mike James, Will Thomas and Dwayne Bacon found a tremendous bonus to the Roca Team.
“When I arrived we only had eight players in training camp. The preparation was certainly not easy. There was a lot of uncertainty and questions about the quantity of our roster (…) Monaco has “Did an incredible job of acquiring these guys and adding them to the roster. The team that finished in the last EuroLeague championships became a playoff contender. That’s where we are at this stage.”
In terms of his personal ambitions, the Lithuanian is clear:
I’m already 31, so I just want to enjoy basketball, show the experience I have gathered over all these years and hopefully stay in Europe for the rest of my career if that is to be a option. Otherwise, I want to show off, help my team win as many matches as possible, make the Euroleague playoffs and win the French championship if all goes well. It would be the club’s premiere and everyone is talking about it. Many challenges we are waiting for.
Photo: Euroleague