Players becoming strongly attached to their Euroleague Basketball clubs is not rare, but the connection between Kyle Weems and the fans at Virtus Bologna, the team he left this week after four seasons, is truly special.
Not only did they win a EuroCup title together and return Virtus to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, but well before that, Weems was forever moved by the support he received from fans in Bologna after his father passed away shortly following his arrival to the team.
After winning the 2022 7DAYS EuroCup title together and qualifying for the EuroLeague for the first time in 15 years,
"I have to say I am especially happy for our fans," Weems wrote in a EuroCup blog. "I'm not sure if I have told you, but I have told a lot of reporters in the past: Virtus fans have a special place in my heart. When I lost my father to lung cancer a couple of years ago, they were super supportive – signs, messages on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. They flooded my inbox, no matter how they could do it, and the support and the cheers are something that I can never pay them back. Playing in front of them, wearing a Virtus jersey, I always want to play to the best of my ability, play to the best of my energy, enthusiasm, because they are truly great fans."
The unique emotional bond between them can be seen in the video of a heartfelt "so long" letter that Weems penned to the city and the fans this week.
"I am so forever grateful for you embracing me and my family, and I will love you forever," Weems says. "Myself, my wife and my two boys will forever have Virtus in our blood. This is not a goodbye, simply a see you later."