Jabari Parker says he’s crazy about the EuroLeague

After the first ten rounds of this year’s EuroLeague, Jabari Parker got a good sense of how the competition works, how important each game is and how completely different the hot seats feel. The 28-year-old Barcelona forward – with 310 appearances in NBA regular season games – spoke to the competition’s official website and made no secret of his enthusiasm for the basketball he is discovering in Europe.

“Basketball is bigger than the NBA. Basketball is global. Even when I was little, watching the Olympics and other teams like Spain and Argentina, I knew that no matter where I was or what stage of my career I was at, I wanted to play at the best level, wherever I was.

I love the EuroLeague. She is very competitive. The athletes play basketball in the right way and the environment, the atmosphere, which is the most important thing, stands out. I just want to do what I do best, but the most important thing is to win. If we win, it solves all our problems and as long as I’m part of our team’s success, I’m happy.

I say the NBA and the EuroLeague are like night and day. It kind of reminds me of college, here in Europe every game counts. It can either make or break you and is important when competing in certain tournaments. “We don’t just have Real Madrid as opponents, we have opponents everywhere and that shows how serious it (the organization) is,” said Parker, who has 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the contest so far.