Tyreek Duren: I left Panionios because they were more than 20 days late with my payment

Duren complained about Panionios management: If you don't have the money then don't have a team. How can you expect players to play without you paying them

Tyreek Duren joined his former teammates Devin Sweetney, DeAndre Liggins and Anthony Lee in complaining about his experience in Greece with Panionios (which replied to Sweetney and Liggins accusations).
Duren returned to Philadelphia before the coronavirus outbreak after his 14-game stint with Panionios.

The La Salle product has played 14 games in Greek top division with Panionios averaging 11.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

How was your experience with Panionios (coaching staff/teammates)?

My experience with Panionios started off on the right track and quickly went downhill. I feel like the coaches were doing everything they could to keep the team in good spirits but it was pretty difficult when we started getting paid late. I never had any problems with any of the coaches just management and how they handled certain situations.

Why you left the team?

I left before the season was suspend because they were more than 20 days late with my payment for the second time. Before I left they promised me 3 days straight that I was getting my money and each day came and no money was there and nobody from management said anything to me about why.

How do you judge Greek League?

To me the Greek league is great for basketball and pretty competitive. I wouldn’t mind coming back for basketball. Every game is pretty much a dog fight. The only problem I have with the league and i’m sure I am not the only one, is the fact that most teams don’t pay on time. It’s a big problem when you have players sign contracts that you as a team also agreed on and then you don’t honor those terms in the contract. If the contracts says that you get paid on the 15th of every month then its not ok to pay your players a month after. If you don’t have the money then don’t have a team. How can you expect players to play without you paying them. Then get upset when players decide to leave or sit out of practice. It’s a joke.

Some of your teammates complained a lot about management of Panionios, what can you say about their experience and your one?

When the management of our team found out I was looking to leave and had other teams interested the GM met with me and made it seem like I was wrong for wanting to leave. Told me that I have to honor the contract. This is during a time where there were already 20 days late with my money. It was a joke for him to even say that. I’m sure most of us have the same thoughts about the management of our team. It was very unorganized. Many phone calls or messages would go unanswered when you needed some type of help for housing or wanted to ask about your money. At the end I got so fed up with them that I booked my own flight back to the US because I knew waiting on them to answer or take any action would probably mean me staying for another two weeks.

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