Brandon Davies tells everything: His Euroleague dream and his working mindset

There is nothing usual in Brandon Davies’ story. When he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers early in his career, many talked about a homecoming, but it wasn’t. The ID says Davies was born in Philadelphia, but was quickly adopted and moved to Provo, Utah. It is the fourth city in the state, about 40 miles from Salt Lake City, but it is elegant, they call it the Garden City, it is a nice place to live in and mostly known for being home to the Brigham Young University, operated by the Mormon Church, a school with a high-level reputation for price / quality ratio. Davies grew up in a Mormon atmosphere but did not play for the Brigham Young’s Cougars for religious reasons. Nor for the excellent basketball tradition that has its roots in the good days of Danny Ainge, the great Celtics guard of the 80s. No, Brandon had only one idea in mind and that was to help his Mom Linda. "I grew up in Utah, but the main reason to stay in Utah, to stay local was to help my mom. She was a single parent, I wanted to help out any way I could and the easiest way to do that was to stay home, in Utah." He could have gone to a number of schools. "In high school I wasn’t ranked very high, but I played on a travelling team called the Utah Pump and Run. We went to tournaments in Las Vegas, in California, I think me playing there helped got some exposure. But also winning state championships with Provo High, being on a winning team gets you noticed." And he never looked back. "I don’t take any those years for granted or look back and wish I had done anything differently. I learned a lot there, had to grow a lot, as a person, and most importantly I was there for my family, had a pretty good career there and because that career I’m here today."

The story is well-known because back in the day it was headline news in Utah. BYU had the best team in many years, led by the immense talent of Jimmer Fredette. The younger Davies was his perfect complement. Brigham Young could make it to the Final Four, do something historic, that was the feeling. But Brandon was suspended for violating the college’s code of ethics, which prohibits sexual intercourse before marriage. There was no resentment, no accusations. They acknowledged that it had happened, Brandon had no problem telling everything, he was very straightforward but was suspended. The following year he would return to the team, fully rehabilitated, but Fredette was in the NBA. It wasn’t the same team. "Me, when I wasn’t allowed to participate there was part of the year when I learned a lot, I grew the most on and off the court. Looking back at it, there have been essential lessons that I needed to learn to be the man I am now," he explains.

He got to the NBA; he just couldn’t stay there. "The main thing was that in the NBA there wasn’t much playing time promises or contract guaranteed, so the next step for my development, for my career, was to move overseas. It was my first time out of the country. Me and my wife just got married, right before we moved, and we set up the start of my career in Chalon." Many more stops followed, including Monaco and Varese. But Kaunas is where he made the big jump. "My time with Zalgiris is when there was a lot of growing in my game. I was able to focus in getting better, there were little aspects that I worked hard every single day in. In Lithuania I got better every year, helped the team reach new heights, and was pushed to get better every year since. I take the personal challenge of bettering myself every year, getting better during the summer and try to identify as best as I could how to be the best player I could be and help my team win more games. This is my mindset and I have been able to have pretty big roles in those Final Four visits that I had. But I still fall short so I will give myself to win it all. Part of having some skills is finding them. There was a place in my career when I worked on the right things to be able to be a capable player, be a factor on both ends of the court. As far as shooting goes, I tried to get better every year and be more of a dangerous threat. Hopefully, my work in the summer paid off and I can continue to get better as the season goes on."

After spending time with two different EuroLeague teams, Milano is the place he was looking for to have some stability and maybe reach the ultima goal. "When you end up third or second, somebody has got to give, so you got to work hard, you got to take the extra step, use what you learned. Getting to the Final Four is a huge accomplishment, but I want to go to the next level. When I was able to speak with Coach Messina, I found a clear way to understand what I was bringing to the team and what the team needs. Those two lines were pretty equal, what the team needs and what I bring, so hopefully I can help the team reach new height and we can accomplish our goals together." To go there, he will need to refresh his connection with Kevin Pangos. "I’m very excited to play with Kevin, we really jelled well together, we had a lot of history together. Since we’ve seen each other, we have been able to work well together, in Zalgiris and also in Barcelona. It was a lot of fun; he means a lot not just to me personally but to my family as well. Our wives and kids know each other, so that will help in being a little more comfortable in a new place. As far as on the court, we can’t wait to play with each other again. Unfortunately, in Barcelona he ran in some injuries, and we didn’t play as much together as we wished. It is time to refresh it here in Milan and show what we are capable of. It will be very exciting to both of us."