The best Christmas gift? For Rotnei Clarke the one received at the beginning of the week, with the arrival of his family in Friuli.
His wife Patricia and their three children have in fact left Arkansas to join their basketball player father in this new overseas adventure. The tenth in the career of the expert American point guard.
Globetrotter of the ball in wedges, now the new yellow and blue works in the service of coach Pillastrini. His mission? Giving joy to ducal support. He has no sled or reindeer, but a lot of points in his hands. Call him Santa C…rke.
It was pleasant to follow your reunion with the rest of the family via social media: how important is their closeness to you?
«Being able to have my wife and my children by my side again is truly a great emotion. They are the most important thing in the world to me. I feel like I’m not myself when I’m not with them, and now that I’m here, I feel like I have an extra dose of energy.”
Have you had the opportunity to prepare your loved ones for the new reality?
«I told them a lot about Cividale. In ten years as a professional I have never felt so welcome as in this reality. Being here is wonderful: the club, fans and teammates all contribute to making me feel at ease.
I told my family this: I love this area and I know we will really enjoy this time together here. Obviously, I’m primarily focused on my job, on helping the team win.
From this point of view, I can say with all my heart that at the moment I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else in the world.”
Since his arrival, he’s been working hard to catch up with his teammates. How are we struggling?
«The last few days have been pretty tough, we’ve had a pretty intense series of matches. On a physical level, I’m a little tired: but it’s normal, having spent several weeks without playing, despite having trained on my own at home».
On the other hand, what is the understanding with your teammates?
“I feel like I’ve already developed a good chemistry with everyone. They are fantastic people, thanks to them it was easy to go from working alone to real matches, within a team».
What relationship is being created with coach Pillastrini?
“He’s a great coach. I get along very well, with him and with the rest of the staff. I’ve just been here but it’s easy to struggle when there are people like that following you. For my part, I try to do whatever is asked of me. I’m not a selfish guy, I want to help the team in any way I can.”
What are your objectives, therefore, between now and the end of the year?
“I’m not satisfied with what I’ve done so far. But I know that I will continue to improve, with hard work. The next two meetings will be super important.
Our goal is to keep winning, thinking about one race at a time. This is to dive into the new year with enthusiasm and, why not, then aim to qualify for the play-offs».