Top scorer in the Euroleague with 20 points average this season, Élie Okobo did not miss his debut with ASVEL or his return to Europe after two seasons in the NBA, between 2018 and 2020.
Because the last traces of the French in the United States are thirteen short minutes in two meetings in the “bubble” in August 2020, and before that, we must go back to the world before the Covid-19 pandemic, twenty months ago .
The injuries, the Covid-19, the pain …
Elie Okobo has returned to this side of the Atlantic to ” to restart “, but also “Take pleasure in the field” as he explains to L’Équipe. A pleasure disappeared due to an injury to the right ankle.
“I remember it very well, we played Golden State during my second year in Phoenix, in February 2020”, he says, to talk about his injury. “When I hurt myself in the first quarter, I felt it was unusual. However, I finished the match because I was playing well and I did not want to miss this kind of opportunity. Despite the examinations, the care, the pain remained. All the time. I paid for it physically and the performances were affected, I was no longer so explosive, whereas it is one of my qualities. Phoenix moved on to the next guy and I was still struggling. “
The start of trouble for him. He is no longer at his level and Phoenix no longer relies on him.
“It’s frustrating: you’re on the court playing James Harden, Stephen Curry or Damian Lillard and you can’t defend or attack 100% when you have no choice against these guys. When the season was going to resume in the bubble, I caught the Covid a week before and missed the preparation. And since the team has won a series of victories, why change the rotations? I was not retained by the Suns, and the pain was still there. “
Come back one day in the NBA but with an important role
So how do you bounce back?
“I said to myself: ‘It’s impossible, you might as well come back to France to play in N3’. No one had seen me play in a long time, I ended up signing a contract with the Brooklyn G-League team for a new bubble in February. On my first five-against-five in almost a year, I put the basket to the win and I’m not even happy. I had strange feelings. The interiors were running faster than me! I knew after that I wasn’t going to have any offers. So my priority became my ankle, and I had the operation at the end of March. “
Before signing to Tony Parker’s team, Elie Okobo had “Considering the Summer League this summer” but refused the obstacle because he did not feel ready after long months in the infirmary. Now that his first stint in the NBA is over, does he already imagine a second in a while?
“It would be an accomplishment, yes, to find the United States. And to succeed. When ? I do not know. I want to be ready. If I am offered tomorrow to be on the bench in competition with a rookie, it is no. Here I have a role, we win, I am one of the leaders and I play against the best Europeans. Whatever my situation, I want to draw the positive from it. I’m a competitor, I have a lot of self-confidence, and I want to be up there to face the best. I work hard for this. “
