[You don't want to see Jan when he's angry.]

[Editor's note: This is Lukas Kuba's first post for TAI. He is a longtime San Antonio Spurs fan (going back to the days of The Admiral Robinson) from Slovakia, Europe, but when the Wizards drafted his "sort-of" fellow countryman Jan Vesely in the 2011 NBA Draft (they both were born in Czechoslovakia), Lukas immediately became a fan of the Washington Wizards too (Well, except when they play the Silver & Black). Lukas has been monitoring Czech media coverage of Vesely and is praying for a resolution to the lockout. Words can't explain how eager he is to see Vesely play ball with John Wall. Follow Lukas on Twitter: @Luke_Mellow]

Don’t worry (or rejoice, depending on your point of view), that’s not Jan Vesely’s new girlfriend. Want to find out who it is? Read on.

Last Friday, my man Kyle Weidie send me an e-mail, saying: “Looks like Jan is heading back to the Czech Republic… Not being able to see him play is one of the most frustrating aspects of this whole thing.” I wholeheartedly agree. Wizards fans are being robbed of a chance to see his highlight dunks, ‘wow’ plays, everlasting hustle, and this spectacular plaid shirt.

What we have left is Vesely’s (sometimes funny) quotes. Not much. However, not much is better than nothing at all. When I heard yesterday he would have a press conference with the Czech media, I was kind of happy. I said to myself: ‘Okay this is my chance to write my first blog post for truthaboutit.net.’ After making coffee this morning, I reviewed the media and look what I found…

First, some interesting tidbits of what he said (via IHNED.cz / iDNES.cz):

  • He was in Los Angeles, CA for month and a half;
  • Worked our together with other NBA players in the Wasserman Media Group agency’s gym (his agent is Arn Tellem);
  • Had workouts every day (Monday-Friday);
  • He’s phlegmatic but the Lockout pisses him off;
  • Just working out and not playing actual games is boring for him;
  • He was chosen by Czech Basketball Federation (along with Czech women’s basketball team player Katerina Elhotova, see the pics) to be a basketball patron for the youngest Czech players (Jan for the boys, and Elhotova for the girls).

Here is the main part of the Q+A:

What does it mean to you being chosen the patron for young players?

I’m so glad that I can be a role model for beginning ballers. I’m glad I can help.

But these last few weeks there weren’t a lot of good news to hear.  

Yes, I just workout since June. It’s boring, a stereotype. We’ll see what happens. We’re looking for a team where I can play.

You already have specific offers?

I can’t say I have specific offers, but I’m sure it’s in Europe, I don’t want to go to China. Going back to Partizan Belgrade would be the easiest way to go. I’m still their player, I wouldn’t have to deal with the formalities – moreover I heard that the whole Serbian nation wants me to come back. So we’ll see.

You said from the beginning that you would wait on the end of the lockout in USA. When did you change your mind?

Initially there was a thought that the NBA would start at the end November or the beginning of December – and nothing happened, no deal. Even with a deal, it will take a month before we can start playing games. It looks bad, we’ll have to find something. Maybe I did a mistake not finding something sooner.

How do you personally view the dispute between players and owners?

If players had 57% [of BRI] last year and now they want us to take 50, I think it’s a pretty unfair.

How much of negotiations are you following?

I’m such phlegmatic, I don’t care about it too much. But it’s starting to piss me of a bit. Everybody was optimistic, like saying tomorrow they’ll get a deal done… I think that it is not so much about money, but rather about power. Basically owners want to restrict player movement, they want more power.

It is worth losing the whole season?

I still believe they’ll get a deal done somehow. In America everyone says that the players should take the deal. One hand they are right, everyone would be glad with the start of the NBA. But it’s not about this season. What the players make at the start of this disadvantageous CBA, they will lose that in the next 10 years. It’s about the future.

Does your side make mistakes too?

The biggest NBA stars came to the negotiations at the end of it. I think that was probably a mistake. They should have taken a stand for every player at the beginning of negotiations.

The NHL players said the lost year wasn’t worth it. Shouldn’t basketball players take advice?

I still hope we don’t lose the whole season. I believe they get a deal done. But if we lose a year, I hope it will be worth it. Last year basketball in the States was at its most popular in the decade. I’m sure fans are losing faith in players.

Prior to the return to the Czech Republic you had workouts in Los Angeles. How was your preparation?

I met there with Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook, they were the biggest stars I worked out with. From our Washington team there was only JaVale McGee. Everyone knows that in America basketball is more individual, I worked more on my technique, shooting, ball-handling. The first week was about getting used to it, but then it was fine.

The aforementioned McGee is an excellent dunker like you.  Was there some friendly trash-talking?

The workouts were rather individual, it wasn’t about trash-talking about dunks. He’s got extremely long arms. It looks like he doesn’t even need to jump to dunk. A little funny.

What did you do in America outside the effort in the gym?

The furthest I was in San Diego, I’ve got a family there. And then a lot of things in L.A., sports too. Firstly I went to a soccer game, the local team Galaxy against New York, but it wasn’t a very good game. I’m used to watching Champions League. The only one who played there was Beckham. NHL was better – the Kings played against Pittsburgh. I saw the overtime, immersed the atmosphere of sold-out arena. Such atmosphere would be great in a basketball game, too.

Some random NBA players have said that they have money problems due to lockout.  How’s it with you?

I was living at my agent’s house. I paid only for food, I went myself or with my family. The agency paid for my plane tickets, too. So my money’s fine. I’ll have to use some money only when I decide to go for vacation to the seaside in December.

Random Posts