In an interview with Mozzart Sport, Mateusz Ponitka talked about the decision to stay in Russia and play for Zenit Saint Petersburg after the war in Ukraine started.
“I was the biggest enemy in Poland at that moment,” Ponitka said. “People hated me, both me and my family. We received threats, crazy messages. Personally, I expected some people from basketball to stand up for me, but they added fuel to the fire. I was really close to ending my national team career. In the end, I talked with my wife, agent, and people from the national team before the EuroBasket.
“They told me they wanted me on the team, that they knew what I had given for the national team. Eventually, we found common ground, and I joined the team, and we finished fourth in Europe. A crazy story. I’m usually calm and hardly get excited, but my story from last year… I think it could be made into a movie. From zero to hero. Actually, from hero, to enemy, and then back to hero. A great lesson for me about what love and family mean.”
https://twitter.com/Eurohoopsnet/status/1687746530621501440?s=20
