The Fenerbahce big man lifted the EuroLeague title after coming up short over and over again
Khem Birch finally a champion: ‘A long time coming’
Article
3 Mins read
Last Sunday night, Khem Birch was finally able to celebrate with his team at the end of a basketball championship run, as the 34-year-old Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul center was crowned a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion in Abu Dhabi.
“It was a long time coming,” Birch told Euroleague.net's Igor Petrinovic after the game.
“Every championship since high school, I lost. The EuroLeague in 2017. [I lost] even in the NBA Playoffs. So, God rewarded me.”
It sure was a long wait.
A native of Canada, Birch played for Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts during his senior year in high school, losing a USA National Prep Championship final against St. Thomas More back in 2011.
In 2013, in his college days, Birch lost in the final of the Mountain West tournament while playing for UNLV against University of New Mexico, then tasted defeat in the first game of the NCAA Tournament against the University of California.
In his lone previous season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Birch helped Olympiacos Piraeus to reach the 2017 championship game, only to lose against Fenerbahce.
Birch also never got past the first round of the NBA Playoffs, getting eliminated with the Orlando Magic in 2019 and 2020, and in 2022 with the Toronto Raptors.
To set the record straight, this recent EuroLeague title was not the first trophy for Birch in his professional career, as he won the Turkish Cup with Fenerbahce earlier this season.
However, winning the EuroLeague pales in comparison with everything else. To do that, Fenerbahce beat AS Monaco in Sunday’s championship game.
“It was for sure a great battle, and we found the way to rally. And for sure it was our defense,” he said.
Birch praised the team spirit Coach Jasikevicius has instilled and the teammates’ trust in each other, both of which were key in achieving EuroLeague glory.
“We've got a lot of depth, a lot of unselfishness. We followed Coach's plan and we won.”
However, for Birch, there was no escaping a bit of drama. The big man woke up with back pain on the morning of the game and wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to play.
“I remember when I had a playoff series in the NBA against the Sixers [in 2022], when I was with the Raptors, I had a torn meniscus and my back problem. So I know, this was nothing.”
To further prove that this back problem was “nothing” and he was not nervous if he would be able to go, Birch spent 20:16 minutes on the floor against Monaco, posting 6 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end.
“Hey, I also received a Flight Time award, which means I was in the air the longest. I am too old to be nervous.”
So, finally on the winning team, Khem Birch feels like he might only be getting started.
“I think that after this, I will have the most confidence coming into these types of games.”