- Willie Cauley-Stein has signed with Openjobmetis Varese in Europe
- He has mentioned the NBA’s style of basketball as the reason for his move
- Willie Cauley-Stein says the European ‘tactical’ style of basketball is better than the NBA
Willie Cauley-Stein played for seven seasons in the NBA, for top teams like the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks. He has been out of the league since 2022 and has now signed for Seria A team Openjobmetis Varese.
And while most would have assumed that Cauley-Stein wasn’t able to find a role in the NBA, he has now mentioned the style of basketball in the league as his reason for leaving.
“I chose to come to Europe because of the more ‘tactical’ way of playing compared to the 1 vs. 1 basketball that is played today in the NBA, which is conditioned by the players’ desire to produce personal statistics.
“Here in Europe every game and every ball is important, not like in the NBA where all 82 games are equal.”
Willie Cauley-Stein left the NBA for Europe due to his dislike for the NBA's 1v1 basketball style
“I chose to come to Europe because of the more ‘tactical’ way of playing compared to the 1vs1 basketball that is played today in the NBA, which is conditioned by the players’ desire… pic.twitter.com/fgIz9ZEGYC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 16, 2023
This is an interesting take, and it’s sure to draw the ire of NBA fans and the community at large. But it’s not exactly an unpopular take either, many players have said something to that effect in the past. But it didn’t stop fans from trolling Cauley-Stein regardless.
NBA Fans Roasted Willie Cauley-Stein After This Went Viral
Willie Cauley-Stein averaged 1.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game when he last played in the NBA, it’s not surprising that he’s been roasted by fans for saying this about the NBA. One fan put it bluntly.
No you were just not good enough
— Shelby (@Shelbyether) September 16, 2023
Another fan joked about the fact that he is not in the NBA for the same reason as Cauley-Stein, obviously poking fun at him in the process.
Mhm. That’s why I chose to go into Finance instead of the NBA.
— Brian Weeks (@BWeeks5) September 16, 2023
While most fans didn’t believe what the former Warriors man had to say on this front, one fan did give him his props and suggested that he might be telling the truth.
Honestly there’s a chance he’s telling the truth, he was a quality defender in the NBA. He just has no offense besides dunks
— Registered Flex Offender (@MemesThatsIt) September 16, 2023
For a traditional big man in the NBA, finishing consistently, shooting, and grabbing rebounds are all important traits to succeed. And one fan spoke about how Willi Cauley-Stein wasn’t quite able to do one of those at a high level.
His lack of effort in boxing out for rebounds won’t change overseas
— The Lock$mith (@RipsAndSlips) September 16, 2023
The NBA community isn’t the biggest fan of criticisms. The way players and fans reacted to Noah Lyles talking about the NBA is an excellent example of this. Whether he is right or not, Willie Cauley-Stein is now finding out the same thing that Lyles did.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Said Playing In Europe Is Harder Than The NBA
When someone like Willie Cauley-Stein says a thing like this, it’s very easy to poke fun at him. It’s also easy to say that he couldn’t make it in the NBA. But he’s not the only one to say similar things.
Giannis Antetokounmpo recently said that playing in Europe is more difficult than playing in the NBA, and he even went further than Cauley-Stein did.
“First of all, the game in Europe is way harder than the game in the NBA. I don’t wanna disrespect, the talent in the NBA is obviously way higher but with the space, you have a lot of lanes to drive the ball, a lot of lanes to create over there it is just more intense.
“People pick you up full court, double-team you, man-to-man in the last 5 seconds… It’s just more physical. I don’t know if it’s because the talent is less and you need to be more physical to catch up, it’s harder.”
The only way for Willie Cauley-Stein to back up his words is by flourishing in Europe. If he can have a long career, it will have made a huge difference to the way his words are perceived in the long run.
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