• Departure Real Madrid announces goodbye to Thompkins

It was March 30, there was a storm at Real Madrid, one of the most intense in memory in the Laso era, and three players decided to spend the night partying in Athens, hours before the Euroleague match against Panathinaikos.

The three returned to their hotel during the day, according to the Greek agency SDNA.

They were

Trey Thompkins

, who said goodbye to Madrid yesterday,

Gerschon Yabusele

and Thomas Heurtel, the guy who arrived bounced and with controversy from Barcelona, ​​and who has just broken his silence in an interview with the French newspaper 'L'Équipe'.

"I left for Athens the day before a match. The context was complicated, the team was going through a losing streak. I destroyed what I was trying to build with a great club like Madrid. If I could go back, I would never make the same mistake. We had an argument a few days later, I apologized, but they made that decision, I paid like a big boy, I will not do it again, "is his explanation of what happened that night.

About these three months of punishment.

The last as a white player.

And that, for a moment, it seemed that

Pablo Laso

was going to raise his hand a little.

"I am convinced that I could contribute, whether it was one, ten or twenty minutes. I would have liked very much to have had the opportunity. The Final Four was a dream after many years without achieving it. After

Nigel Williams-Goss

was injured, I hoped to play But Pablo Laso had made a decision and kept it. I had no choice but to accept it. I concentrated on my routines, I did the best I could in training and I tried to be prepared", he admits.

The 'abandonment' in Istanbul

He also wanted to explain why he hasn't broken his silence until now, three months after what happened in Athens: "It would have been selfish to start talking about my personal situation in the middle of the playoffs. I wouldn't have changed anything and I didn't want to damage the equipment".

And he regrets not having been able to help the team, after an untimely injury.

"I was training and they told me that I would rejoin in the hope of playing the final normally. Unfortunately, in the first training session I sprained my ankle"

The Frenchman also recalled that episode when, as a Barcelona player, he was 'abandoned' in Istanbul.

"My former agents were negotiating an exit. They were talking to Madrid. I knew it, not Barcelona, ​​who thought I was going to sign for Fenerbahçe. My agents asked me to travel with the team to Istanbul. Barcelona found out before the game against Efes. At the end of the night, I'm in the parking lot and at the foot of the bus they tell me: 'We're leaving. You're staying. We've reserved a plane ticket for tomorrow'".

And he underlines the tough situation he experienced afterwards: "The club and

Sarunas Jasikevicius

are two different things... After his arrival, everything changed. And after the Istanbul incident, they didn't even talk to me. It was very hard for me and my family ".

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