{"id":176137,"date":"2025-09-28T22:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/176137\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:28:09","slug":"devonte-graham-set-to-embark-on-his-european-journey-i-wanna-win-not-trying-to-average-20-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/176137\/","title":{"rendered":"Devonte Graham set to embark on his European journey: \u201cI wanna win, not trying to average 20 points\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nikola Miloradovic \/\u00a0info@eurohoops.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Devonte\u2019 Graham entered the NBA in 2018, when the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> selected him with the 34th overall pick and sent him in a trade to the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>. In his second season, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.5 assists, finishing fifth in the voting for Most Improved Player.<\/p>\n

He moved to the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> in 2021, but his role \u2014 and production \u2014 with both the Louisiana team and later the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> fluctuated over the following years.<\/p>\n

Last summer, his name began circulating in connection with EuroLeague clubs, and the 30-year-old guard eventually signed with Crvena zvezda<\/a> Meridianbet.<\/p>\n

With 336 NBA regular-season appearances behind him, averaging 11 points and 4.3 assists, Graham is now set to embark on his first European adventure with the Belgrade side. Zvezda were busy during the off-season, retooling their roster after reaching the EuroLeague Play-Ins last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how to come out and compete. We can\u2019t take any time off, and we just have to continue to get better and gel more as a team. Obviously, we have a lot of new players, some of us new to the EuroLeague, so we are still learning about each other and how the EuroLeague works, but we\u2019re moving in the right direction. Every day we\u2019re just trying to get 1% better,\u201d Graham shared with Eurohoops about the new environment and preparing for the start of the 2025\/26 season, his first on this side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

He has already shown glimpses of his ability in preseason, but the real test begins on September 30, when Crvena zvezda<\/a> host Olimpia Milano<\/a> in their season opener. Graham explained what will be key for him in adjusting to the European style of play as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust staying in attack mode, realizing what the coach needs from me and what the team needs from me. That goes for all of us, not just me. Everybody needs to be aggressive and play together. The more we get in shape, the faster we can play. We can accomplish a lot with our guard play. We just need to make plays for each other, and it will all come together over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his NBA career, Graham made headlines multiple times, none bigger than in 2021, when his 61-foot game-winner against the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> set the record for the longest buzzer-beater in league history. Known for thriving in clutch situations, he was often the one to step up in high-pressure moments \u2014 a quality that could prove especially valuable in the EuroLeague, where games frequently go down to the wire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just been one of my things since I was younger. Those are the moments you dream of, three, two, one, and hitting the buzzer-beater. I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to hit some of those, and obviously, you want the ball in your hands in those types of moments. But it\u2019s great to have guys around you who also can make those plays. So just because the ball\u2019s in my hands doesn\u2019t mean I have to shoot. I can make a play for somebody else who I\u2019ve got 100% confidence will make the same shots that I can make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about his NBA career, Graham voiced his satisfaction despite the fact that his role changed often.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything happens for a reason. My career in the NBA helped me become a better player. I played in different roles every year\u2014star, coming off the bench, sixth man, even playing only two or three games a month. I\u2019ve seen every role possible, so I know how to balance myself and maintain the right mindset regardless of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now he is set for his first EuroLeague season, focusing on what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake it for what it gives. Obviously, the NBA is where you want to be, where I would love to be, but I\u2019m right here now, and I like to live in the moment. So if that\u2019s where it takes me, then that\u2019s cool, but if not, I enjoy my time here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham is about to start his European journey, but with a constantly growing number of internationals in the NBA and the fact that they are having a bigger impact with each season, he is far from unfamiliar with the European style. Some of the biggest NBA stars nowadays are European players, like Nikola Joki\u0107, Luka Don\u010di\u0107, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a different style. Fundamentals, great touch around the rim. And it\u2019s more IQ. Obviously, NBA, in the States, it\u2019s a lot more flashy and stuff like that, but the European game, you gotta be smarter than a lot of guys, and I think that\u2019s just where they have the advantage over a lot of stuff.\u00a0Obviously, you\u2019ve had players way before that, but I think now that a lot of European guys are coming over there and dominating the NBA, it\u2019s getting a lot more attention nowadays. You got a lot of Euro guys as top 15 players in the league, so it\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devonte\u2019 also had a fair share of European teammates during his time in the NBA. Willy Hernang\u00f3mez is actually one of the players he shared the court with the most over his career (138 games per RealGM).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played with Willy (Hernang\u00f3mez), and we\u2019re friends. We talk all the time. He was excited when he heard I was coming here and congratulated me. I also played with him with the Hornets<\/a> and the Pelicans<\/a>, so we\u2019ve always been in touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also had the chance to share a court and a locker room with the legendary Tony Parker back in Charlotte.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was great. Like I tell people all the time, it was my first year in the NBA, so I got to see how somebody of his stature prepared for games and how mentally focused he was, and you know, how he took care of his body from just all the years of basketball. So I think that kind of taught me, you know, \u2019cause when you come in young and you always fresh and you got fresh legs, you don\u2019t realize how you need to eat healthier, all those little things that go into being a great basketball player, which he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his last NBA stint with the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, the 30-year-old combo guard had a chance to play alongside French prodigy Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely out of this world. Some of the things that he can do\u2014you just can\u2019t teach it. It\u2019s just God-given talent, and it helps being 7\u20195\u2019\u2019 and being able to dunk from the three-point line. So he\u2019s definitely one of the best players I\u2019ve ever played with. And that\u2019s saying a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he drew most of his inspiration from U.S. guards, with players like Damian Lillard and Jamal Crawford being his influences.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my film early on in my NBA career, I watched a lot of Damian Lillard. I watched a lot of Jamal Crawford; personally, I love his game. I don\u2019t do all the flashiness that he does, but just his pull-ups and his drive-left pull-ups and stuff like that, because I like to go left a lot too. So I used to watch little things like that. But from the point guard role, a lot of Damian Lillard, and obviously, you got to watch guys like Chris Paul and just, you know, the pick-and-roll and how you read defenses with his passes and stuff like that. So I just tried to take little bits and pieces from a lot of guards and put it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Graham has a special connection with another EuroLeague player, Dubai\u2019s swingman Dwayne Bacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting. You have a brother like that for years, you always want to play against him. It\u2019ll be fun. We play him in about two weeks, I think, first week. So it\u2019ll be great. Obviously, I just talked to him probably two days ago, just checking in, see how he\u2019s doing, see how the family was. Off the court, brothers. On the court, not\u2014we\u2019re not family. So obviously we\u2019re going to be trying to win, and you want to have bragging rights against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concluding his interview with Eurohoops, Devonte\u2019 Graham spoke about his personal goals ahead of his debut EuroLeague season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWin as many games as possible. Stay healthy. Not trying to average 20 points or go out and shoot all the shots. No, I just want to win, \u2019cause winning takes you further than individual accolades. I\u2019ve never been one of those guys who set numbers to try to average a certain amount of points during the season. So that\u2019s how I look at it. Stay healthy\u2014that\u2019s my biggest goal.\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nikola Miloradovic \/\u00a0info@eurohoops.net Devonte\u2019 Graham entered the NBA in 2018, when the Atlanta Hawks selected him with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-176137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}