SI.com’s Paul Forrester has a good Q&A with Josh Childress, who signed a three-year, $20 million contract with Olympiacos last summer. Here’s a snippet:
SI.com: Could you explain the difference in your schedule on game days and game weeks compared with the NBA?
Childress: NBA game weeks depend on the week. Sometimes you might have four games, sometimes two, and you’re always on a plane. Game days consist of a shootaround in the morning and then getting to the gym one-and-a-half to two hours before the game. Greek week consists of one Euroleague game and one Greek league game. Game days are different because once we go in for shootaround, we are with the team the rest of the day. Olympiacos has a huge complex/training facility near the arena. We have a team meal there and then go up to our rooms and rest or we can play video games, pool, lift, swim or whatever guys want to do until game time.
SI.com: Do your current coaches and teammates all speak English? If not, how do you communicate with those who don’t?
Childress: Pretty much everyone in the organization speaks English. A large number of people who work for the team either went to undergrad or grad school in the U.S., so they speak fine. For those who don’t, someone will translate for us. Our entire team is pretty tight and we have bonded pretty easily considering there were 12 new additions this season.
SI.com: How are the accommodations different? Smaller gyms? Hotels better or worse?
Childress: Some gyms hold 20,000 people and some probably hold 1,000. They are both packed with crazy fans. The hotels aren’t better or worse. They are just different. I would like the hotels here more if they had larger beds, though. The beds are like twin size!
