Building resilience after getting fired from your first two jobs - with Gabe Olaseni - Ep.74

Hoopsfix Podcast - British Basketball with Sam Neter

For Episode 74 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Great Britain big man, Gabe Olaseni, currently plying his trade in Turkey with Buyukcekmece.

This episode is supported by Foot Locker, find out what they are doing for grassroots hoops in Europe at the Foot Locker Basketball Hub.

The 6'11" centre is in his sixth year as a pro after a successful college career at Iowa, and has played at the highest levels in Europe, having signed what was reported as one of the biggest rookie contracts in Europe with Euroleague side Bamberg straight out of college, and along with Germany has played in France, Italy, Spain and now Turkey.

Olaseni had a rough start to his pro career; he likes to joke he was fired from his first two pro jobs, but has used the lessons to bounce back and carve himself out a role at the highest tiers of European competition.

In this 90 minutes episode hear from Gabe on:

• When he first realised COVID-19 was going to be a serious thing
• Staying in Turkey for two months believing the postponed season would get started again
• Coming back to London for the summer and working out outside
• How COVID-19 has affected the European basketball market
• Making the decision to sign back in Turkey for a second year
• How COVID-19 has impacted Turkish basketball this season
• His first exposure to basketball and why he started playing
• First playing club basketball with the Eastside Eagles
• Making the decision to not joined a stacked Westminster Warriors U18 squad who would go on to win the title
• Travelling from East to West London to play for Uxbridge Emperors
• The top players of his generation that he was keeping an eye on
• Getting turned down by Barking Abbey
• How the move to the US to Sunrise Christian Academy first came about
• The transition to the US both on and off the court
• How Iowa came across him by accident whilst recruiting his teammate
• His work ethic and the time he was putting in whilst at college
• The standout memories from his time at college
• Dealing with doubts after not playing a lot in his first two years at Iowa
• Learning to embrace a role on a team
• His mentality on turning professional
• NBA draft workouts and NBA summer league
• Why he chose to sign in Europe instead of play in the G-League and pursue the NBA
• His rookie contract and the rumours of him being one of the highest paid rookies in Europe
• Financial management
• His rookie season with Bamberg in the Euroleague and the difficulties
• Playing for Great Britain Senior Men and receiving his first call up
• His breakout tournament at EuroBasket 2017
• How he feels about the current GB group and their chances of qualifying for EuroBasket 2021
• Whether he stays in touch with other GB guys through the season
• Balancing personal production and team performance
• Playing in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Turkey and comparing the leagues
• His thoughts on the levels of the BBL
• What the London Lions are doing this season
• Highlights of his career so far
• Toughest moment of his career so far
• Best coach he's played for
• Toughest player he's had to play against
• Best British player he's played against
• Favourite British teammate
• Goals for the next 5 years of his career
• And much, much more!

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.