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D. J. Stephens, Prometey: 'I have been blessed naturally'

D. J. Stephens, Prometey: 'I have been blessed naturally'

Interviews

6 March 20239 Mins read

D. J. Stephens, Prometey: 'I have been blessed naturally'

The staggering amount of times D. J. Stephens of Prometey Solobozhanske has appeared in the top plays of the week this season already puts him on the shortlist of the most spectacular players of the first 20 years of the 7DAYS EuroCup. Stephens, 32, regularly shocks EuroCup fans with his tremendous dunks and high-flying blocks. On top of that, he has averaged 12.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals for a PIR of 14.9. He is ninth in the competition in two-point shooting (72.0% 2FG) and has helped Prometey to first place in Group A (10-4) with four regular season games remaining.

Stephens said that he and his teammates feel the support from Ukrainian fans wherever they are. "When we go certain places and we play away games in these different countries and you see the Ukrainian flags that fans are waving in the arena, it kind of gives you a sense of support," he told EuroCupBasketball.com. "Even though sometimes there's not many people, but still just knowing that there's people there that stand with Ukraine and they support Ukraine, it feels special."

Hello, D.J., congratulations on a great season. Prometey leads Group A over a lot of classic teams. What's been the key?

"It's actually pretty interesting because we started off kind of rough and everybody was panicking a little bit, like we were a little bit on edge. We didn't really realize how young our team was, how much we had to grow and how much we had to learn because in pre-season, we were playing pretty well. We went to Turkiye, we beat Fenerbahce, Karsiyaka and quite a few other teams. We were playing really well. So when we started in the EuroCup, we won the first game and then we lost to Brescia by 30.

“So it was kind of like an eye-opener a little bit, but we just worked through it, tried to figure out like, what wasn't working, what was working, trying to figure out what our identity was as a team and our strengths. And pretty much our strengths are just trying to be really good and aggressive defensively and then trying to get out and play fast in transition and get quick, easy baskets and offensive rebounds... Playing this fast uptempo pace, it's tough for a lot of teams to keep up with this style of play because they are not used to playing it every night or practicing like this every day. So usually, if we are able to force our style of basketball on other teams, is tough for other teams to compete and get the wins."

"If we are able to force our style of basketball on other teams, it's tough for other teams to compete."

You are playing in the EuroCup for the first time since 2015. How do you find the competition and how much fun is it for you?

"It feels good to be back. It's actually kind of funny because two summers ago I was talking to my agent, Gerard Raventos, and I was saying, 'man, like, I haven't played in high-level European competition since I was with Zenit', and this was like my second year as a pro or whatever, and it would be nice to get back and be able to play in European competitions and play at a high level. So to be back here and last year being able to compete in Champions League and this year us being able to make that jump to EuroCup and being able to play and succeed at a high level, it feels pretty good."

Of course, we need to talk about dunks. What you are doing this season is unprecedented, being in the Top 10 pretty much every week. How much has to do with you going for it every time and the team for its fun playing style?

"They both kind of go hand in hand and feed off one another. Of course, with this fast-paced offense, there will be a lot of lob opportunities or fastbreak dunks, and it leads to opportunities for me to be able to showcase one of my main attributes and that's my athleticism. That's been a key thing that's helped me continue to be able to play at a high level all throughout my career, being this freakish athlete. And basically they match perfectly together."

We have never seen anybody dunking at this level at age 32. What's the secret? How do you take care of your body and physical skills?

"I would say part of it is I have just been blessed naturally because I have never done anything special to be this athletic. It just was a part of my genetic makeup and over the years, I have, of course, like every other athlete has done, strength training and stuff like that just to keep my body strong and healthy. And of course, with the strength coaches like the guy that we have this year from Lithuania, Mantas [Valciukatis], he doesn't focus so much on me trying to do everything like heavy power, heavy loads and stuff like that. I am doing certain exercises that help add to my strengths, which are my quickness, my athleticism. So doing certain things with not necessarily always so much weight, but just with these explosive movements to emulate the certain things that I do in the game. And I feel like that helps me continue to play at a high level. It also helps me stay in tip-top shape as a basketball player. And of course, I do the normal things like stretching and trying to drink my water and do all my pre-game and pre-practice things that help keep my body mobile and limber."

Prometey plays most of its "home games" in Riga, Latvia, and we have seen groups of fans from Ukraine making their way to the games there and sometimes on the road. What has that meant to the players?

"It definitely means a lot, especially when fans are able to travel and come and support and be a part of everything. And also, when we go certain places and we play away games in these different countries and you see the Ukrainian flags that fans are waving in the arena, it kind of gives you a sense of support, even though sometimes there's not many people, but still just knowing that there's people there that stand with Ukraine and they support Ukraine, it feels special."

You played in Ukraine for two seasons before the war. How did that impact your decision to sign with Prometey this season?

"At first, it was a question of if the team was going to continue this year. Once I found out that information, then it was just a matter of were there certain things in place, to where the team would be able to be sustainable throughout the year regardless of the war going on back in Ukraine. If anything was to happen, would the team continue to function or would it do force majeure or cancel the season like it did last year. So once I got those cues to where everything will be fine and we would be able to continue to play the entire season regardless of what's going on, it gave me a lot of confidence. Plus, with me being here two years already, I feel comfortable with the club, I feel comfortable with the staff, I feel comfortable with my teammates. We had a huge season last year that got cut short because of the war, but we brought a lot of the pieces that we had last year back for this season, so I was curious what we could do this year. So I wanted to come back."

"We are also playing for all the people back in Ukraine who are supporting and watching."

You played in Greece, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, France, the Dominican Republic and Bahrain, but never in the EuroLeague. What would it mean for you to win the EuroCup with Prometey and get to the EuroLeague?

"It would definitely mean a lot, considering the logistics of what we just talked about, being a team from Ukraine, but playing in a different country... For me, playing in Europe and being able to make it to the EuroLeague level, it would be special for me just because in the last few years I have made the climb and I have touched every level of European competition, and the last one that I haven't played in is EuroLeague. I played with Efes for a short stint, but I didn't have a chance to play in the EuroLeague games, I got there right after their EuroLeague season ended.

"I remember my first year when I was playing in Greece, after practices, we would go, me and a couple of my teammates, and they'd have the EuroLeague games playing on the TV at the restaurants and all the Greek fans being there excited if there was an Olympiacos or Panathinaikos game. Just the fan support behind that and how entire countries rally behind their EuroLeague teams, and how much fan support and how big and how high the level is in EuroLeague... It would be special to be a part of that. Also, it would definitely be a crazy finish to a season. With a club that is this young, to be able to have that amount of success that fast, it would be really, really special."