Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

Joffrey Lauvergne believes leaving the NBA while he still had another year on his contract was one of the mistakes of his basketball career.

Speaking to Skweek, the French center explained that impatience influenced his decision and admitted he would make a different choice today.

“I think it was a mistake. I had another year left on my NBA contract. Throughout my career and my life, I’ve been very impatient. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid of what the future holds. Who knows what’s going to happen in the NBA? The hardest thing is to get another contract, and I did it.”

Lauvergne said experience has helped him become more patient and learn from decisions he made earlier in his career.

“I definitely should have stayed there. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life, in basketball and outside of it. I think smart people learn from the past. I’m definitely more patient today than when I was younger. If I could go back and talk to myself, I would tell myself that it would be better if I stayed in the NBA,” Lauvergne said.

The Partizan center also reflected on playing for Zeljko Obradovic at Fenerbahce, highlighting one particularly important lesson from the legendary coach.

“Zeljko has a really different way of doing things. He taught me that you don’t do things for the club or the coach, but for yourself. That’s probably the most important lesson I learned from him. Many coaches try to be relaxed and socialize with the players, but Zeljko doesn’t care much about that.”

According to Lauvergne, Obradovic prioritizes results rather than trying to build artificial relationships with players.

“He does what he thinks is necessary to make the team as successful as possible. He has his own way of working, which you may or may not like, but that’s him. False friendship is not his style,” he said.