OKINAWA. The Finnish men’s national basketball team is fighting for an Olympic qualification spot at the World Cup this week, when Susijengi will face Cape Verde and Venezuela.
On Thursday, however, a rather exceptional player stands in the way of Susijeng’s dreams. 221-centimeter Walter “Edy” Tavares.
The center back from Cape Verde was chosen as the best player of the Euroleague finals last year, when he led Real Madrid to victory in the first European league.
Tavares’ story is unparalleled. A German tourist had visited the island nation on the west side of the African continent when he spotted 17-year-old Tavares.
At that time, the Cape Verdean hujoppi was working in his mother’s grocery store. The German tourist was amazed by Tavares’ height and had mentioned the young Cape Verdean to his acquaintances in the Spanish premier league club Gran Canaria. Already at that time, Tavares was 216 centimeters tall.
They traveled from Gran Canaria to Cape Verde and decided in November 2009 to bring Tavares with them. It was decided to try to teach the 17-year-old teenager the basics of basketball. Before that, Tavares hadn’t even touched a basketball. He had grown up on Maio, one of Cape Verde’s smallest islands.
In addition to basketball, Tavares started learning English and Spanish. In Cape Verde, he had only needed Portugal and the local language based on it, Cape Verdean Creole.
Basketball began to take shape quickly for Tavares, even though he had not played any sport seriously before contacting Gran Canaria. Tavares’ sharp hands made an impression when the representatives of Gran Canaria gave the Cape Verdean different exercises.
Tavares first rose through Gran Canaria’s junior team to the representative team and there to a bigger role.
Less than five years after his first contact with basketball, Tavares was picked up by the Atlanta Hawks in the 42nd round of the NBA draft in 2014. A year later, the Cape Verdean giant retired, but his career in the NBA didn’t really take off.
In three seasons, Tavares played a total of just 13 games in Atlanta and Cleveland. However, he returned from the NBA to the big European club Real Madrid. There, Tavares has been one of the club’s biggest stars for the past six years.
Sasu Salin remembers an incredible vision
Now Tavares has led Cape Verde to the World Cup for the first time, and the island nation of approximately 560,000 inhabitants has also been able to celebrate its first victory in the World Cup, when Cape Verde defeated Venezuela in the opening group.
Next, they try to bully Finland. The captain of the wolf pack Sasu Salin moved eight years ago to the origins of Tavares’ career in Gran Canaria. They had time to play together for one spring before the Cape Verdean left for the NBA floors.
Salini’s first moments with Tavares were memorable. In February 2015, Salin moved from Ljubljana to Gran Canaria in the middle of the season and immediately got Tavares as a roommate for the Spanish Cup game.
The view in the hotel room was quite good.
– Tavares was lying on the bed. His legs came out of it maybe half a meter. The leg has not been straight either. As a child, he has worn shoes so small that they are curved in one place. I was like, oh my god…, Salin recalls her amazement.
Salin describes Tavares as a nice and sincere guy.
– Tavares is a really genuine guy, says Salin.
Shoe size 58
Getting shoes for Tavares has really been quite an operation. When Gran Canaria came to visit Cape Verde for the first time, they tried to find basketball shoes for the young giant. He found US size 13.5, which means that in Europe the size would be 47. They didn’t fit properly on the foot.
– I remember experiencing pain. I thought this is crazy. But I had one chance. I had to show them, not make excuses. That’s it, Tavares has later recalled his first test with Gran Canaria.
When the Cape Verdean later prepared to train with NBA clubs before the booking event, he was able to buy the shoes even in New York after adjusting.
He had been to a store in New York and tested the US shoe size 20. However, it had also felt too tight, until the salesperson brought size 22 shoes. That is, by European standards roughly size 58 shoes. A smile had come to his lips immediately.
– They were the first shoes in my life that fit my feet, the then 23-year-old Tavares has said.
Salin, who himself spent a long time in the Canary Islands, describes that the Cape Verdean giant is still held in high esteem in the Canary Islands.
– He is considered a local there. Edy found a wife in the Canary Islands. Edy is Kanaria’s own son, Salin says.
Since then, Salin has been able to experience Tavares’ abilities in the opponent’s knot.
– Tavares is really dangerous near the basket. You have to be ready to put pressure on him and deliver the first blow. If Edy gets under the basket, there will be quite a few “sleek dingdongs”, Salin describes and refers to Tavares’ donks often seen in Real Madrid as well.
On the defensive end, the Euroleague’s all-time save number one is also quite a threat.
– I’ve gotten to know his hand a few times when I’ve tried to make a basket. The further they can get him from the basket, the better for them, says Salin.
A return to the NBA?
After the good performances at Real Madrid in recent years, speculation has also started about Tavares’ possible return to the NBA. The superstar’s current contract with Real Madrid is valid until next summer.
According to local newspaper reports, the negotiations between Tavares and Real Madrid on a new contract have been frozen for the time being. The Cape Verdean admitted at the beginning of August that he has an NBA dream in mind.
Basketnews, one of Europe’s largest basketball media by Among the NBA clubs, Portland has tried to lure Tavares to the NBA side.
However, one challenge may be that Tavares is expensive to buy out of his current contract with Real Madrid. According to information from Basketnews, the termination of the contract costs more than six million euros, which the Argentine Facundo Campazzo had to buckle down before moving to Denver in the summer of 2020.
Tavares has previously stated how staying at Real Madrid would not be a problem.
– I have said many times that I am thinking about the NBA, but there are many things to think about, Tavares told Basketnews.
Assistant coach of NBA club Utah Jazz, part of Susijeng’s coaching team Sean Sheldon describes that on Thursday Susijeng needs the performance of the whole team so that Tavares doesn’t get to wreak havoc.
So what does Sheldon think of Tavares’ NBA potential?
– Tavares has an NBA body, but he has had a great career in Europe. He has been really successful at the highest league levels in Europe. It will be interesting to see if he returns to the league at some point, Sheldon formulates.
Sources: NBA.com, Olympics.com and BasketNews