Roberts: Basket baller from the cradle
Career day was never a 'to watch thing' for Brian Lloyd Roberts. That's because he knew how he was going to earn his living from a very young age. Read the American guard's interview on olympiacosbc.gr
"I was born in Toledo Ohio. I started playing basketball thanks to my older brother and my older sister. They were playing basketball and I grew up watching them. I have one brother and two sisters. I am the baby of the family" he said talking to the official team web page olympiacosbc.gr and continued talking about when he actually realized he was going to become a professional basketball player: "I remember in grade school essays titled 'what you are going to be when you grow up', I would always write an NBA player! I had that on my mind since then and worked on it. Fortunately I was lucky enough to succeed my goal".
Not getting drafted by the NBA changed his route but not his destination. "I had not been drafted, and despite been really disappointed at the time, it never crossed my mind to give up on my dream. It was a very difficult moment that made me follow a different path. I had to work even harder to make the NBA and this made it all the more special. Also, having to work that hard was good for me because it improved my game. It felt good to play at a high level and it felt even better to get to play at the highest one".
To fulfill his dream, he had to first go to Israel and then to Germany. The first stop was less than ideal for an American due to special socio-political situation… "The truth is that before going to Israel I was kind of nervous due to what I was seeing on the news. But I got to realize it's a beautiful country, people are very friendly and I never felt in danger while I was there. It was a good first season. I then went to Germany in 2012 and succeeded in my goal. When I got to play in the NBA it was really unbelievable. I remember the first games, one of which was against the Miami Heat that had Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosch at the time, I was on the floor and I couldn't believe it. I was telling myself 'I'm actually here! This is it!" Of course I never took all that for granted. The trip to get there was really special".
The Olympiacos offer was another special trip for him, that's why he immediately accepted closing - for now - the NBA door. "After the Olympiacos offer, I could have waited a little bit longer to test my NBA prospects; however, I did not want to do that. I replied yes at once, because the team people made me feel good. And I also thought that I was going to live in a beautiful city like Athens and I would be able to celebrate a lot of success with Olympiacos. Everything has been very good up to now. It has been a great month and I'm excited for the season to start. I aim at winning as many titles as possible, if not all. The Cup, The Championship and the Euroleague of course. But we don't need to be thinking about that now. What we need to be thinking is how we are going to be getting better every day and our work will bring us where we want and deserve".
Olympiacos meets his expectations as does our country. "I love the weather, love the nice restaurants and I certainly love 'bougatsa' (i.e. Greek filo pie with cream filling)! I haven't been here that long to discover something negative. Everything seems nice to me! I'm here with my family. My wife, our three kids, Alana, Cole and Ava and our dog. The whole crew is here and everyone is enjoying their stay in Greece. We have a very nice house and everything is great".
The team is looking to find its chemistry on the floor, but the same goes for the players on a personal level… "For now and as usual at first, the foreigners feel closer to one another. But now that the international players are back, we begin to know each other and bond… As for my funnier team mate, I would say that's Holis. That's because it's his first season in Europe and he's wondering all the time 'why is this done this way? why this, why that…' He's always wondering about something and it's very funny".
His motto is : 'Live life and do right'. And up to now he has done great by it…