Sylvain Francisco is representing Kaunas “Žalgiris” for the second season, but his career could have turned out completely differently.
After Tuesday’s EuroLeague winning match against Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Frenchman said that three years ago he was lured by another Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“It’s true, I was very close to signing with Maccabi,” israelhayom.co.il quoted the Zalgiris defender as saying. “It could have been very good for me.” I had agreed to a long-term contract worth millions, but at the last minute they canceled (the contract).
Nothing happened as one side gave it up in the 90th minute. Finally, it’s part of the business, I’ve moved on. It didn’t bother me anymore, I moved on.”
According to isrealhayom,co.il, this agreement was supposed to take place in the summer of 2022.
15min reminds that at that time “Zalgiris” invited Keenan Evans to their ranks, whose value after the season at Maccabi Tel Aviv was not yet high, and the Kaunas club could offer the American defender a more important role than the titled Israeli club.
S.Francisco was also a rising basketball player at that time.
2021-2022 after a great performance with the Spanish team Manresa, he moved to Persiter in Athens, from there to Bayern Munich, and after a season in Germany to Zalgiris.
This season, the 28-year-old Frenchman is collecting 16.2 points and 6.8 assists in the EuroLeague, becoming one of the brightest players in the tournament.
“I’m having a very good season personally, so I’m not complaining,” said S.Francisco. “The most important goal for me is to collect victories for my team. But, yes, I feel that the season is good.”
S.Francisco also proved his level in the match on Tuesday, when “Žalgiris” beat Hapoel, who were still leading in the EuroLeague at the time, 93:80. The Frenchman scored 10 points and had 8 assists.
“We played a good match, even though it didn’t start well. We managed to improve our defense and stop Hapoel Tel Aviv in the most important moments,” Francisco said. – Coming to Tel Aviv and defeating the leaders of the Euroleague is a statement for us.
But in the Euroleague, any team can beat anyone in every game, the league is very even. I’ve played here myself a few times before and I know it’s a big challenge to win in Tel Aviv, so it’s a huge win for us.”
