Dillon Brooks describes EuroLeague atmosphere as being on "another level" than that found in NBA.

Dillon Brooks made headlines this past weekend while attending an Olympiccos Piraeus versus Barcelona basketball playoff match, drawing widespread media coverage throughout Europe. Once it concluded, Brooks couldn’t help but praise both EuroLeague atmosphere and competition that had him standing ovations at every point during playbacks of both games he attended.
Houston guard Jamon Brown revealed why he traveled so far for this competition when asked by reporters: he wanted to watch Naz Mitrou-Long play for Olympiacos; in his response he noted, “I always wanted to watch Euro basketball so it is great being here!”
As part of his preparations to represent Canada in Paris in 2024 Olympics, this player noted the passion shown for basketball across Europe is “on another level” than within North American leagues such as NBA or WNBA.

Dillon Brooks in attendance for Euroleague Playoffs [via @Eurohoopsnet and Eurokinissi]. Pic.twitter.com/iPzZvPRXjc | Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2024.

“Everyone here is so passionate and it’s amazing – this playoffs is incredible and I am glad I am watching, being around it and spending time with family!” He described their passion with exhilaration: they seemed endlessly enthusiastic for their team’s cause and provided nonstop energy all night long; all-in-all it was an exhilarating experience to witness it first-hand – “Happy to be here watching with friends & happy being part of such an exhilarating environment!”
Once again, he was challenged to elaborate further. Not content to simply focus on the passionate crowds watching them compete, he provided his insight on competition itself: “Basketball is great: every possession counts and harder teams often win; Barcelona missed many shots while Olympiacos capitalized on every missshot and turnover by capitalizing on each missed attempt and turnover from Barcelona; I can’t wait until Game 5 on TV; the series has been incredible,” he assured his listeners.
Brooks needed help from his interviewer in remembering who the player he had mentioned was, in particular Kostas Papanikolaou – their captain – whom Brooks wanted to honor with praise for their performance on court. “I forget his name,” Brooks stated referring to Kostas Papanikolaou.
Interviewer noted that Papanikolaou not only played on the Rockets team before, but had missed all prior games due to injury. When told this news he said something similar: “Really? That’s crazy – I didn’t realize I knew him!” “Isaiah Canaan played against us a couple times while Papanikolaou came in with great energy – hitting many threes while fundamentally altering the game”, according to him.
Brooks will soon join Canada’s Olympic camp ahead of Paris 2024 Olympic.
After NBA and EuroLeague playoffs have concluded, we all look forward to an intensely competitive summer season. After four years, Paris will once more play host to Summer Olympic Games this July and Dillon Brooks has qualified his national squad – becoming only the sixth Canadian squad since 1982!
As part of his visit to Olympiacos-Barcelona match this weekend, 28-year-old Chris Konstantinou was asked what his expectations are for this summer’s international competitions.
“Everyone wants to win gold, so our main aim is to achieve that goal,” stated Paul McGregor of Team Canada’s senior women team, adding, “we don’t plan on losing any ground after having another season under our belt, adding players as necessary and doing it again,” as part of an explanation for success in 2018.