Kevin Ware reflects on basketball career at Louisville, time playing overseas
Rockdale alum Kevin Ware returns to the Bulldogs gym for the first time since the injury. (Staff Photo: Colin Hubbard)
Rockdale alum Kevin Ware played for the Bulldogs all four years, leading the team to a state runner-up finish in 2011. (Staff Photo: Colin Hubbard)
There is only one player in the entire world that can say they were a part of the first NCAA men’s basketball championship team ever to have its title stripped, a part of Georgia State’s biggest upset in school history and a part of the national news cycle for sustaining arguably the worst injury ever captured on live television.
Those three anomalies belong to one man — Former Rockdale graduate Kevin Ware.
After receiving his diploma from Rockdale in 2011, it was the injury that came first — a gruesome broken right leg sustained five years ago in an Elite 8 matchup against Duke while playing for Louisville. Two games later, while sitting courtside with his reconstructed leg, Ware’s teammates won the NCAA championship, defeating Michigan 82-76.
Next came Ware’s journey in helping Georgia State to an upset over Baylor as a No. 14 seed two years later in 2015. Ware finished out his college career with the Panthers after transferring following the 2014 season, finding his way back to the top of his game in the process.
Now playing professionally around the world, Ware learned that he would no longer be in the record books as a National Champion just a few short months ago. The NCAA announced earlier this year that the 2012-13 Louisville basketball team was being stripped of its title thanks to an investigation that found the University responsible for several high-profile infractions.
But in Ware’s eyes, there isn’t anything the NCAA can do or say to take away his memories of winning a national championship.
“You can’t change the history books,” Ware said. “That’s like saying 2013 never happened, or that I didn’t break my leg. It was just frustrating at the time hearing it because I know how hard we worked throughout that whole year. It was just like a slap in the face.”
After learning the news, Ware took to Twitter to voice his displeasure, stating that he still had his championship ring and that was proof enough.
“I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, right,’” Ware said. “How can you take something away? I guess that’s how my comment came out the way that it did. I always just talk. That’s one thing about me. I’m just organic. We all got rings. So, what, you’re going to come and take the rings, too, or are you just going to say we don’t have a title? It didn’t make much sense. That’s just the NCAA, though. That’s been the NCAA and that’s an entirely different conversation.”
A lot has happened in the past five years. Ware went from being a national champion as well as being a household name for reason’s he wishes now never happened. The then 20-year-old Ware in 2013 conducted numerous interviews talking about his injury. From interviews with ESPN to CNN, he said he’d take all of it back if given the opportunity.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I knew how big it turned out to be,” Ware said. “I couldn’t go to the mall. I couldn’t go out to eat without people wanting to come over and pay for my food and to take a picture. After a while, it just kind of felt like people moreso felt bad for me than everything that actually happened.”
It’s something he said he still deals with today, no matter if it’s locally, or in another country thousands of miles away.
“I still do,” Ware said in regards to answering questions about his leg. “The fans are still super excited and they’ll mention it. Especially like the top teams in other countries that I play against, the fans look at who is who, so they are always asking me questions. But it wasn’t as uncomfortable because it’s been so long.”
Not only has the injury dampened his social life, but he believes it has dampened his professional career, too. If not for the injury, he believes he’d be playing in the NBA right now and not overseas. But at the age of 25, Ware believes his chances of getting a shot at the NBA are very much a possibility.
“I hope so,” Ware said. “It should be coming soon enough. I kind of feel like everybody isn’t cautious about my leg anymore. Everybody doesn’t really think about it once they see me out on the court. It’s a miracle to them. A lot of catastrophic injuries have happened, but not all of them were televised on a big platform like mine.”
So for now, Ware is perfecting his craft elsewhere.
After going undrafted in 2016, Ware has spent time in Finland, Greece, the Czech Republic and Mexico, averaging around 14 points per game.
His professional career began with a trip to one of the coldest places on planet Earth: Finland. He played 10 games for the Kauhajoen Karhu of the Finnish Korisliiga league.
It was far from an ideal setting, but one that he said he will never forget.
“It was freezing in Finland,” Ware said. “I left here in August and it was already cold (in Finland). By the time October and November came, there were several inches of snow on the ground and by 5:30 p.m. it was dark outside. Just talking to people, they were telling me that It was going to be cold and that it’s close to the north pole and stuff like that. But they didn’t tell me how depressing it was going to be. Sometimes you would have the entire day just to do nothing. A lot of the towns are really small. There was a donut shop and that was our favorite place to go in the entire town. It was cool, though. Everyone was nice, I can say that about it.”
The next stop for Ware was the Czech Republic.There he played for BC Brno of the National Basketball League. In 19 games, Ware averaged 17.8 points and 7.5 rebounds.
He then made his way to Larissa, Greece to play for G.S. Larissas Faros B.C. It was there that Ware said he enjoyed himself the most.
“I liked Greece because they gave us cars,” Ware said. “In the Czech Republic, the gym was literally right across from the condos that we had, so we didn’t really need cars for anything. In Finland, we didn’t get cars, either. Just the scenery of Greece, too, It was a really nice place. The different towns and traveling for these games, it was easy to get caught up being a tourist with all of the nice scenery.”
Ware played in eight games for the Greek basketball club, averaging just shy of 13 points per game.
Most recently, Ware joined a team based out of Chihuahua, Mexico midway through the season. His games with the team finished in April, allowing him to return home to Conyers for the offseason.
Being away from family was what Ware said was the hardest part about playing overseas.
“I grew up just with my sisters and my mom,” Ware said. “Then it turned into my sisters and my nieces and mom, and then it turned into my fiance, and everyone. So leaving them was like leaving a little piece of you with them. The conversations work for maybe the first month, and then you get the emotional, ‘I miss yous’ and all of that stuff. It makes you appreciate the time when you are with them more than anything.”
The next step in Ware’s basketball journey might be on hold for now. He and his fiance are expecting a child in January and said he’s currently weighing out all of his options. But if he does choose to play basketball for the upcoming fall season, he hopes to be playing in a better league.
“I’m trying to pull a couple of strings and get into the top league in France or in Qatar,” Ware said. “It’s kind of good right now because I’m not signed to anyone. I don’t have an agent or anything so I can just talk to people freely and have more options. It’s the best of both worlds right now because I’m going to have my son in January, so it’s kind of like, am I going to go and play or am I going to figure things out here. I’m kind of in the middle right now.”
No matter what this year holds, or how his professional basketball career turns out in the end, Ware said he hopes people remember him for his play on the court and not for what happened March 31, 2013.
“For awhile, my whole battle was to try to get people to not remember the injury,” Ware said. “I wanted them to just remember how I play basketball. But I kind of feel like I’ve matured a little more, so I don’t really look at it that way anymore. My main thing is just to try and get back to the highest level possible. At the end of the day, I want people to say that I never gave up. That’s how I want to be. I don’t ask for any handouts. I just want people to know that I can still get through anything no matter what it is.”
http://www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.co...cle_b82438f8-ac2f-5087-b898-c3cd6f4ebd55.html
Rockdale alum Kevin Ware returns to the Bulldogs gym for the first time since the injury. (Staff Photo: Colin Hubbard)
Rockdale alum Kevin Ware played for the Bulldogs all four years, leading the team to a state runner-up finish in 2011. (Staff Photo: Colin Hubbard)
There is only one player in the entire world that can say they were a part of the first NCAA men’s basketball championship team ever to have its title stripped, a part of Georgia State’s biggest upset in school history and a part of the national news cycle for sustaining arguably the worst injury ever captured on live television.
Those three anomalies belong to one man — Former Rockdale graduate Kevin Ware.
After receiving his diploma from Rockdale in 2011, it was the injury that came first — a gruesome broken right leg sustained five years ago in an Elite 8 matchup against Duke while playing for Louisville. Two games later, while sitting courtside with his reconstructed leg, Ware’s teammates won the NCAA championship, defeating Michigan 82-76.
Next came Ware’s journey in helping Georgia State to an upset over Baylor as a No. 14 seed two years later in 2015. Ware finished out his college career with the Panthers after transferring following the 2014 season, finding his way back to the top of his game in the process.
Now playing professionally around the world, Ware learned that he would no longer be in the record books as a National Champion just a few short months ago. The NCAA announced earlier this year that the 2012-13 Louisville basketball team was being stripped of its title thanks to an investigation that found the University responsible for several high-profile infractions.
But in Ware’s eyes, there isn’t anything the NCAA can do or say to take away his memories of winning a national championship.
“You can’t change the history books,” Ware said. “That’s like saying 2013 never happened, or that I didn’t break my leg. It was just frustrating at the time hearing it because I know how hard we worked throughout that whole year. It was just like a slap in the face.”
After learning the news, Ware took to Twitter to voice his displeasure, stating that he still had his championship ring and that was proof enough.
“I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, right,’” Ware said. “How can you take something away? I guess that’s how my comment came out the way that it did. I always just talk. That’s one thing about me. I’m just organic. We all got rings. So, what, you’re going to come and take the rings, too, or are you just going to say we don’t have a title? It didn’t make much sense. That’s just the NCAA, though. That’s been the NCAA and that’s an entirely different conversation.”
A lot has happened in the past five years. Ware went from being a national champion as well as being a household name for reason’s he wishes now never happened. The then 20-year-old Ware in 2013 conducted numerous interviews talking about his injury. From interviews with ESPN to CNN, he said he’d take all of it back if given the opportunity.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I knew how big it turned out to be,” Ware said. “I couldn’t go to the mall. I couldn’t go out to eat without people wanting to come over and pay for my food and to take a picture. After a while, it just kind of felt like people moreso felt bad for me than everything that actually happened.”
It’s something he said he still deals with today, no matter if it’s locally, or in another country thousands of miles away.
“I still do,” Ware said in regards to answering questions about his leg. “The fans are still super excited and they’ll mention it. Especially like the top teams in other countries that I play against, the fans look at who is who, so they are always asking me questions. But it wasn’t as uncomfortable because it’s been so long.”
Not only has the injury dampened his social life, but he believes it has dampened his professional career, too. If not for the injury, he believes he’d be playing in the NBA right now and not overseas. But at the age of 25, Ware believes his chances of getting a shot at the NBA are very much a possibility.
“I hope so,” Ware said. “It should be coming soon enough. I kind of feel like everybody isn’t cautious about my leg anymore. Everybody doesn’t really think about it once they see me out on the court. It’s a miracle to them. A lot of catastrophic injuries have happened, but not all of them were televised on a big platform like mine.”
So for now, Ware is perfecting his craft elsewhere.
After going undrafted in 2016, Ware has spent time in Finland, Greece, the Czech Republic and Mexico, averaging around 14 points per game.
His professional career began with a trip to one of the coldest places on planet Earth: Finland. He played 10 games for the Kauhajoen Karhu of the Finnish Korisliiga league.
It was far from an ideal setting, but one that he said he will never forget.
“It was freezing in Finland,” Ware said. “I left here in August and it was already cold (in Finland). By the time October and November came, there were several inches of snow on the ground and by 5:30 p.m. it was dark outside. Just talking to people, they were telling me that It was going to be cold and that it’s close to the north pole and stuff like that. But they didn’t tell me how depressing it was going to be. Sometimes you would have the entire day just to do nothing. A lot of the towns are really small. There was a donut shop and that was our favorite place to go in the entire town. It was cool, though. Everyone was nice, I can say that about it.”
The next stop for Ware was the Czech Republic.There he played for BC Brno of the National Basketball League. In 19 games, Ware averaged 17.8 points and 7.5 rebounds.
He then made his way to Larissa, Greece to play for G.S. Larissas Faros B.C. It was there that Ware said he enjoyed himself the most.
“I liked Greece because they gave us cars,” Ware said. “In the Czech Republic, the gym was literally right across from the condos that we had, so we didn’t really need cars for anything. In Finland, we didn’t get cars, either. Just the scenery of Greece, too, It was a really nice place. The different towns and traveling for these games, it was easy to get caught up being a tourist with all of the nice scenery.”
Ware played in eight games for the Greek basketball club, averaging just shy of 13 points per game.
Most recently, Ware joined a team based out of Chihuahua, Mexico midway through the season. His games with the team finished in April, allowing him to return home to Conyers for the offseason.
Being away from family was what Ware said was the hardest part about playing overseas.
“I grew up just with my sisters and my mom,” Ware said. “Then it turned into my sisters and my nieces and mom, and then it turned into my fiance, and everyone. So leaving them was like leaving a little piece of you with them. The conversations work for maybe the first month, and then you get the emotional, ‘I miss yous’ and all of that stuff. It makes you appreciate the time when you are with them more than anything.”
The next step in Ware’s basketball journey might be on hold for now. He and his fiance are expecting a child in January and said he’s currently weighing out all of his options. But if he does choose to play basketball for the upcoming fall season, he hopes to be playing in a better league.
“I’m trying to pull a couple of strings and get into the top league in France or in Qatar,” Ware said. “It’s kind of good right now because I’m not signed to anyone. I don’t have an agent or anything so I can just talk to people freely and have more options. It’s the best of both worlds right now because I’m going to have my son in January, so it’s kind of like, am I going to go and play or am I going to figure things out here. I’m kind of in the middle right now.”
No matter what this year holds, or how his professional basketball career turns out in the end, Ware said he hopes people remember him for his play on the court and not for what happened March 31, 2013.
“For awhile, my whole battle was to try to get people to not remember the injury,” Ware said. “I wanted them to just remember how I play basketball. But I kind of feel like I’ve matured a little more, so I don’t really look at it that way anymore. My main thing is just to try and get back to the highest level possible. At the end of the day, I want people to say that I never gave up. That’s how I want to be. I don’t ask for any handouts. I just want people to know that I can still get through anything no matter what it is.”
http://www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.co...cle_b82438f8-ac2f-5087-b898-c3cd6f4ebd55.html
