Basketball: NBA star PJ Tucker: I became a leading player in Germany

It is an impressive and extraordinary success story in the best basketball league in the world, NBAlooking for their own kind. PJ Tucker, born on May 5, 1985 in Raleigh (North Carolina), spent the first five years of his life in Frankfurt, where his father was stationed as a US soldier. After the family returned home, the offspring’s basketball career quickly took off.

In 2006, Tucker was finally drawn in the NBA draft with the 35th pick by the Toronto Raptors. Due to the fact that he could not really gain a foothold there in his rookie season, Tucker decided to move across the Atlantic just twelve months later, where he worked in six countries between 2007 and 2012 (Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy, Puerto Rico and Germany) played for seven different clubs – including Brose Baskets Bamberg (2011/2012), with which the Power Forward won both the German championship and the cup. Then he made the jump back to the NBA, in which the 1.96 meter tall US boy becomes one of the best and most sought-after “3-and-D” players (first-class defender with a strong three-point winch) ) developed. Last season, Tucker celebrated his first NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, to which he was only traded by the Houston Rockets in March 2021. Since this season, the former Bamberg player has been hunting for the Miami Heat.

Mister Tucker, you’re in Frankfurt grew up until you turn five. Do you have any specific memories of that time?

Tucker: Yes that’s right. After my father was stationed at the US base there, he took the whole family with him to Germany. I can still remember a few fragments. For example, living together and playing with the other children or certain specific places. And what else I can say: I definitely had one there for the first time Basketball in my hand, even if of course I haven’t played in a club at the time. I was still much too young for that. But if you will, that’s where my career started (laughs).

Then in 2011 you are after Germany returned – this time as a professional basketball player to the Brose Baskets Bamberg. Was it something special for you to play in the very country where you grew up as a little boy?

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Tucker: Yes, it was definitely a very cool thing to come back to Germany. For my mom and dad in particular, who then visited me several times in Bamberg, it was something like a trip back in time. You have visited many well-known places from back then as well as former friends in Frankfurt and thus relived the good times there. From that point of view it was definitely something special, yes.

“The move to Bamberg was the right decision”

You have with the Brose Baskets the double – championship and cup – and were even named the final MVP. Would you say that the year is in Bamberg ultimately the decisive step back or your ticket into the NBA was? Then it went to the Phoenix Suns…

Tucker: That is a good question indeed! Was the season in Bamberg really the all-important step for me back into the NBA? Hard to say! I would have had the opportunity to switch to the NBA a year earlier. But neither the time nor the exact opportunity that was available to me at the time completely convinced me. For this reason I finally decided to move to Bamberg. Today I can at least say that it was definitely the right decision.

Your former head coach in Bamberg war Chris Flemingwho later also worked as a German national coach. Which part Fleming an Of their athletic development?

Tucker: A very big one. With Chris, I learned what it means to be a real leader. He gave me this role right from the start, and of course I first had to grow into it. As a “leader” you not only have to constantly deliver your top performance on the court, but also learn to build the best possible relationship with each of your teammates. And that’s exactly what I’m benefiting from today with my teams in the NBA. This experience helps me enormously to live up to the respective leadership role and to exercise it as well as possible.

Has been working since 2015 Chris Fleming now as an assistant trainer in the NBA. About the stations Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets the now 51-year-old came to the in 2019 Chicago Bulls, where those responsible attest him a first-class job. Quite a few experts see in Fleming even a future NBA head coach. Were you surprised by his career?

Tucker: Absolutely no way! When we worked together at Brose Baskets, he was already doing a great job. Chris was not only able to motivate his players very well, but – and that is ultimately the most important thing for a coach – he simply made them better. I can only confirm that I really enjoyed playing for him at the time. I am therefore not at all surprised that he has been in the NBA for a number of years. For me that is rather the logical consequence.

To go back to the Brose Baskets Bamberg to stay: One of your former teammate was the native of Augsburg Maurice Stuckey (formerly TSV Diedorf, TV Augsburg and BG Leitershofen), which is now available for the Crailsheim Merlins plays in the Bundesliga. Do you still remember him?

Tucker: (after he got to see a picture of Stuckey) Oh yes, even if it’s been some time now, I can actually still remember him (laughs). He was a young and very talented player with a great attitude who always worked extremely hard in every training session and game to improve. It was a lot of fun, both on and off the basketball court, to be on a team with him.

Let’s in Of their Go back a few years in your career. They were from the Toronto Raptors Drafted in 2006 and had actually already made the leap to the “top”. After only 17 NBA games and then numerous encounters in the D-League (NBA Development League), you decided a year later, North America to leave. How difficult was this decision for you at the time?

Tucker: In all honesty: It wasn’t difficult at all – on the contrary! I just wanted to play a lot at the highest possible level so that I could develop accordingly. When the 2006/2007 season in North America was over, this decision was made very quickly. At this point, I didn’t want to fight my way through the training camp again, only to be cut again at the end. The move to Israel to Hapoel Holon, with which I was able to win the championship straight away, went quite quickly.

“Every day in Ukraine was a real adventure”

Up to Of their Return to the NBA in 2012 to the Phoenix Suns you were active for seven clubs in six different countries. How did you manage to constantly adapt to a new way of life and a new style of play?

Tucker: Basically, I didn’t really have any problems with that. Of course, every coach always has his own ideas. But basketball is and remains basketball – regardless of the country in question. As far as the respective way of life is concerned, the differences were a bit bigger. If I only think back to my time in Ukraine: Wohoo, somehow every day was a real adventure (laughs). What you sometimes saw was quite – I would say – extraordinary. I think that’s pretty good (laughs).

As mentioned earlier, you returned to the best basketball league in the world for the 2012/2013 season. Did you actually have to be a player type for the NBA Redefine and reinvent, so to speak, or have you stayed the same as in previous years?

Tucker: (ponders) I think the most important thing is that you are the player you always have been on the basketball court and that you don’t suddenly try to completely change your identity. It’s about finding a role in a team that suits you and in which you can help your team as best you can.

In your case, these were and are primarily the two components of defense and three-point throw. Over the years you have grown to be one of the best “3-and-D” players in the league …

Tucker: I agree. I’ve always been very good at defending. And after my throw from distance was not necessarily the worst, I concentrated and specialized on this role – especially since this “3-and-De” type of player, who can defend almost all positions, is always in demand in all teams and will continue to do so in the future will be asked.