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This content was machine-translated from the French version.
Marius Grigonis did not leave Panathinaikos with a bang, but his return to Zalgiris Kaunas comes with a story making waves in the EuroLeague. In an interview given around his return to Lithuania, the guard described four seasons in Athens marked by highs, injuries, an uncertain role, and an almost nonexistent relationship with Ergin Ataman. His comments do not erase the European title won in Athens; rather, they tell the story behind a team capable of winning it all without necessarily smoothing over the rough edges.
A return that frees him to speak
He knows Kaunas, its environment and its demands, and he is returning to a club where his name immediately resonates with the supporters.
Grigonis returns to Zalgiris with a particular status. He knows Kaunas, its environment and its demands, and he is returning to a club where his name immediately resonates with the supporters. His time away from Lithuania took him to CSKA Moscow, and then above all to Panathinaikos, where he went through a very intense period involving rebuilding, back injuries and the conquest of the EuroLeague.
It is precisely this contrast that gives weight to his words. The player is not describing only a bad experience. He recalls living through one of the strongest periods of his career, in an arena and a city where basketball occupies an almost feverish place. But he also uses the idea of organized chaos to describe daily life at Panathinaikos: a turbulent first season, a tense locker room, and then a rapid transformation toward the European summit.
The picture is therefore more nuanced than a settling of scores. Grigonis acknowledges the intensity and power of the Greek club, while also showing the human cost of a system in which a player can sometimes struggle to know exactly where he stands.
Ataman, keeping his distance
The most discussed part concerns Ergin Ataman. Grigonis says that the Turkish coach deliberately keeps his distance from the players and that direct communication is almost nonexistent. The comments were picked up in Greece, Lithuania and several specialized media outlets because they touch on a sensitive point: Ataman is a decorated, charismatic coach, but he is also known for a method that does not always seek gentleness.
According to Grigonis, this distance was especially noticeable when he returned after his back problems. He hoped to gradually regain a place, but his role in the EuroLeague remained limited. The player describes situations in which he could be called at short notice, sometimes after practice, to join the team on the road, or learn shortly before tip-off that he would ultimately play.
These details shed light on a classic tension in top-level European basketball: big clubs want to win immediately, rotations change quickly, and form sometimes matters more than status. Grigonis says he maintained a professional attitude, remaining available whenever the team needed him, even when the role offered did not match his expectations.
Panathinaikos, between harshness and exhilaration
The story resonated all the more because Panathinaikos is not a neutral club. In Athens, emotions rise quickly and rarely come back down gently. Grigonis recounts the fierce criticism at the beginning, followed by the complete reversal after the European triumph. In just a few months, the same environment went from distrust to adoration.
This shift says a great deal about high-level sport, especially in institutions where victory absorbs almost everything. A player may feel appreciated by the executives and respected by part of the public, yet still isolated in the day-to-day management of his role. The Grigonis case is a reminder that collective success does not always guarantee a clear individual experience.
Ataman, for his part, retains the strongest argument in this kind of debate: the titles. His method worked well enough to bring Panathinaikos all the way back to the top of the EuroLeague. But Grigonis’s words add another piece to the case, that of the locker room experienced from within, with its silences and decisions made only moments from the court.
Kaunas as a fresh start
For Grigonis, the immediate challenge is no longer to rewrite the Greek story. Above all, it is about becoming a central player again in a familiar setting, after seasons marked by physical pain and constant adjustments. Zalgiris is getting an experienced guard, capable of creating, punishing from distance and carrying a rare memory of the modern EuroLeague.
His testimony will not ruin Ataman’s image, nor that of Panathinaikos. It simply reminds us that behind a championship team, there are individual paths less smooth than the photograph with the trophy. In Kaunas, Grigonis will now be looking for something easier to say than to obtain: to play, make an impact, endure. The rest, in the EuroLeague, always ends up returning under the spotlight.
