Basketball Karim Jallow
“Then we saw Kobe Bryant show up with his five or six coaches.”
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There is still a doping case against Karim Jallow. This doesn’t affect his performance
Source: dpa/Stefan Puchner
Karim Jallow is building on the successful championship season with ratiopharm Ulm. The 26-year-old is his team’s best thrower. He draws his motivation from an encounter with basketball legend Kobe Bryant.
Just a few days ago, ratiopharm Ulm celebrated its fifth victory on the seventh match day of the Eurocup. Head coach Anton Gavel’s team defeated Buducnost Podgorica 84:67 (37:37). Things are also going well for the champions in the Bundesliga: after seven games, Ulm is leading the league. The top scorer is Karim Jallow, 26.
Ask: Mr. Jallow, last year you and Ulm became champions as seventh in the preliminary round. Now you’re back in first place. Is a new miracle possible?
Karim Jallow: Of course we can become champions again. What you can do once can be done twice. I don’t even know if that would be a miracle. Last season we became champions, quite rightly so, because we beat the top three of the preliminary round, Alba, Bayern and Bonn, one after the other. Now we started the season with a big heart. We have taken the flow with us and know that we don’t have to hide from anyone. The victories against Alba and Bonn were a statement and gave us another push.
Ask: With Caboclo, dos Santos and Paul you have lost three key players. Are you taking on even more responsibility now?
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Jallow: The departures hurt. Yago dos Santos was a very ball-dominant player who rightly became Finals MVP. Now we no longer have a one-man show. The burden is spread across many shoulders. We have a lot of weapons. Every evening someone else comes up trumps. That’s what makes us so dangerous this year. We also have great new arrivals. Trevion Williams is a center who reminds me a lot of Nikola Jokic. He distributes the balls, scores and rebounds. The complete program. With him we have a point guard under the basket, which is unusual. Juan Núñez has also taken another giant step. The World Cup helps him. And I would also like to take on even more responsibility. I have to do that too.
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Ask: They are Ulm’s top scorers with an average of 14.7 points.
Jallow: My goal is to get better every year. My three-point throw in particular has become more stable. This is my third year in Ulm and I know our coach Anton Gavel very well. I see myself in a leader role.
Ask: The NADA proceedings against you before the Court of Arbitration for Sport because of three missed doping tests don’t seem to affect you either.
Jallow: It has been an ongoing process for a year and a half now. There is nothing new to say about this.
Ask: There is a photo of you from 2014 with Kobe Bryant. How did that happen?
Jallow: At the time I was a youth player at FC Bayern. And Kobe Bryant was in Munich because he was treated by Doctor Müller-Wohlfahrt. We had training. Suddenly it was said: everyone out of the hall! We looked at each other in surprise – until we saw Kobe Bryant show up with his five or six trainers. He trained for more than two hours in the evening, and really hard. That was awesome to see. This work ethic, this hard work, this dedication impressed me and I took it with me too.
Ask: And getting the photo with him wasn’t a problem?
Jallow: Not at all! Kobe was really correct. A very friendly guy. I’ve always been a huge fan of his, so this encounter was the greatest thing for me. In the photo he is smiling more than we are. I think we were all in shock.
Anton Gavel led Ulm to the surprising championship last season
Source: dpa/Stefan Puchner
Ask: You played for Braunschweig from 2019 to 2021. How did you experience Dennis Schröder, who took over the team as sole shareholder at that time?
Jallow: Dennis is one of the most correct people I have ever met. I only knew him from newspaper articles before. You think he’s definitely arrogant. But the opposite is true. Dennis is an NBA star and a multimillionaire, but he still remains down to earth. He is a total family man and tries to help wherever he can. When I was in Braunschweig, he always talked to me a lot and gave me tips. He also saw our games in America. He was always there for us, even though he had enough stress of his own.
Ask: A year ago you auditioned for the NBA Summer League but didn’t get a contract afterward. Does this mean the dream of the NBA is over forever?
Jallow: The NBA dream will never be over for me. Especially these days, getting into the NBA is no longer as difficult as it used to be. There are always players from the Euroleague who move to the NBA at 27 or 28. Of course the chance gets smaller every year. But I still believe in it. The camp a year ago in Las Vegas was a huge experience. The Phoenix Suns invited me and I played in front of LeBron James and Magic Johnson. Unfortunately I didn’t get that many playing minutes.
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