Kyle Hines is really the way he’s talked about. “He’s totally focused on the team and how to help the team win,” Malcolm Delaney says. He reiterates the concept incessantly: “Whatever it takes; help the team; give the team a better chance to win games”. And then always remember what his goals are, “win championships, win trophies, have a lot of success”.
-Kyle, how was your love for basketball born?
“The story goes that my grandfather put a basketball and a football in my crib the first day I got out of the hospital. Since then, my parents have told me that I’ve always been focused on basketball. I watched sports on television, basketball, football. From the very beginning, this is the world I grew up in, sport has always been my passion. My father was also an athlete, he played football, but he also played some basketball. I followed him everywhere he went, in all the different things that he did, I worked out with him, I went to the weight room. Basically, my love for sports, for basketball, is above all a family thing.”
-Is the story true that the number 42 is worn to honor Julius Erving?
“It is a true story. My high school coach (Gary Saunders-ed) was from Long Island, from Roosevelt (the same place where Erving was raised-ed), and his brother (Leon-ed) was a Julius Erving close friend. There is a story that he was the one who gave Doctor J the nickname Doctor J. When I was in high school, he followed us everywhere and said I had to wear the number 42 because it was the number Doctor J wore in high school, and he said that my personality was similar to his. It was an honor for me to wear 42 in his honor. Doctor J is a legendary player, but also a legendary person.”
-At UNC-Greensboro, you accumulated numbers have made history.
“At UNC-Greensboro, in the Southern Conference, I was able to have great success. It is a small school, but I have been able to achieve great things, to make a different number of lists, along with big names, Hall of Fame names. UNC-Greensboro is a special place for me, it’s the place where I really began to realize that I could be a pretty good basketball player.”
-Did you expect more interest from the NBA?
“I thought the NBA could be a big option, but the journey is different for everybody. If I look back, I have no regrets, I came to Europe, I played in the EuroLeague, I experienced many different things, I won many titles, played with great teammates and for great coaches, for some of the most historical teams in Europe. The NBA has always been a dream, but today I’m kind of glad that dream didn’t come true. I realized that my real dream was another and it was to compete to win titles here in Europe.”
-It all started in Veroli.
“It was great, Veroli, for those who do not know it, is a small town, with 5-6,000 people, but they made me feel like I was at home. People invited me to dinner, made sure that I was fine, I also had great teammates, some have been in the national team, like Micky Mian, others were great Americans, I think of Jerome Allen. And I played for excellent coaches and general managers, like Antonello Riva, Andrea Trinchieri, Massimo Cancellieri. I had the opportunity to grow and set the foundations to become the player I have become. I am happy to have started my career in Veroli: it is a small town where everyone has big dreams and big desire, where we have achieved some great success”.
-After Veroli, you got the big call from Bamberg and the EuroLeague.
“It was unexpected, I wanted to play in the EuroLeague, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast. I was lucky, because in those days the second division in Italy was very competitive, there were so many good teams and great players. So when I went to Bamberg I realized I was well prepared, because the second division prepared me for that jump.”
-Olympiacos won back-to-back EuroLeagues, a rare feat made by an obviously special team.
“That team was special because of the chemistry that was created on and off the court. The players who were there, Vassilis Spanoulis, Pero Antic, Georgios Printezis, Joey Dorsey, Sloukas. We all have great memories of what we achieved, but the chemistry made the difference, we were like brothers. I am convinced that that is the reason that led us to win so much. We trusted each other, we genuinely liked each other and only wanted the best for each other. This is the most important thing”.
-CSKA Moscow has always had a powerful team, but its whole season seems to be decided by winning or not winning the EuroLeague Final Four. Is it difficult to play with this kind of pressure?
“It’s hard, but at the same time it’s what you want as a player. Compete every year to win titles. That’s the reason we come to practice every day: to win titles. At CSKA every year, it’s winning the EuroLeague or bust. We were mentally prepared all season to win a game or two in the Final Four. But that’s the kind of pressure that I like, the pressure that I want. All players who aspire to have success at some point have to figure it out. I was lucky to experience that kind of success twice with that team and win a lot.”
-Kyle Hines is the American player who has won the EuroLeague most times, four. Feelings?
“It is a tremendous honor – a great achievement – to realize that I’m at the top of that list, considering how many great American players have played in the EuroLeague and have built their careers here. It’s a great achievement, an honor, but hopefully I can win another EuroLeague or two before my career is over.”
-Are you able at home to explain the magnitude of this success?
“No, I’m not able. Sometimes, I honestly cannot understand it myself. As an athlete you always think about what’s next, you finish one game and worry about the next one, you finish one season and immediately think about the next one. So I have never been able to sit down and understand the magnitude of winning the EuroLeague or other titles. Hopefully, one day, when my career is over, I’ll sit down and really enjoy it. My family has always supported me in all my teams, in my hometown everyone is aware of what is going on, the games, they also support me. And this year they will be big fans of Olimpia Milano.”
-At the beginning of your career you had exceptional numbers, now you are best known as a great defensive player.
“As I got older, I realized that I had to fulfill a specific role, especially to play on high-level teams, and playing it at its best would allow my teams to win more games. Personally, I am proud when I can make a good defense, protect the paint, defend on the ball, when I help the team by being a defensive presence. And in offense, I try to do what the team needs, be it setting picks, grabbing offensive rebounds, making the right pass, make a couple of shots, scoring a little, I think my role has been this throughout my career and it has helped my teams to be successful.”
-How did you manage to have success being always an undersized player?
“I like it, I enjoy it, I enjoy going against bigger players, playing against them, I like being a kind of underdog, that people kind of underestimate. It is something that I like, makes me play with a chip on my shoulder, despite my size, despite my height I can prove people wrong.”
-After the type of career that you had, what does Kyle Hines play for, what motivations?
“For me nothing will ever change, the goals are always the same, winning trophies, winning championships. This is the reason why I came to Olimpia Milan. To be part of a club, a team, a group that helps bring titles back to Milan, whether it’s in Italy or in the EuroLeague. This is the goal, this is what I am focused on. And I think it must be like this for everyone here, we have put together a team that can finish the season by winning titles.”
-The point-man is Chacho Rodriguez: you two won the EuroLeague together in Moscow.
“Chacho makes my job a lot easier, what I have to do is set a pick and get open or going down the floor. We have a great relationship on and off the court. In the two years we spent together in Moscow we have developed great chemistry together. He is one of the main reasons why I’m here: I have the opportunity to extende our partnership, our cooperation on the court. In Moscow we won a lot together. I hope we can repeat the same here.”
-Talk a little about the job you are doing at home to help the local kids.
“My hometown is Sicklerville, New Jersey, a small town where I, my brother, my family, have created a basketball academy. We do different things with the kids, camps, clinics, a scholarship, and this year we gave a basketball court to the community to give the kids the opportunity to play in a place they can call home and maybe achieve the same success that we achieved coming from Sicklerville, New Jersey.”
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