Shane Larkin was in advanced negotiations with Milan during the 2018 offseason, but Bryant Dunston persuaded him to join Anadolu Efes.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard Shane Larkin is widely regarded as one of the best players in the EuroLeague. With the Turkish team, he won back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul / Schedule
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulHowever, things could have turned out differently. After a one-year stint with the Boston Celtics, Larkin was on the verge of signing with Milan during the summer of 2018.
Due to a shoulder injury at that time, he wasn't receiving interest from the NBA, so he expressed to his agent his desire to return to Europe, having previously played for Baskonia in the 2016-17 season.
During the 2018 offseason, Olimpia Milano was in advanced talks with Larkin. Still, it was veteran Bryant Dunston who ultimately persuaded him to move to Istanbul.
"He [my agent] tells me Milan is interested in you. Barcelona at that time was gone, so it was Milan and Efes," Larkin recalled the 2018 summer on the Off The RECourt podcast. "And I was like, 'Efes in Turkey, right?' He was like, 'Yeah.' I'm not going there. I promise I was like, 'I'm not going there.' So I was thinking Milan, Milan. We get into negotiations with Milan about money, the length of the contract, etc., and then I get a text from Bryant Dunston.
"I had concerns about Turkey and how the lifestyle was and everything, so I asked Bryant a bunch of questions about lifestyle on the court, off the court, how he felt, where he lived, and he had just convinced me that at the end of the day, it's just good as any other city over here, it's just about the perception," Larkin remembered.
"I didn't talk to Ergin Ataman, I didn't talk to Alper Yilmaz [Anadolu Efes GM], I didn't talk to anybody from Efes. The only person I spoke to from Efes before I came here was Bryant Dunston."
Now, the 32-year-old Larkin has begun his seventh season in the EuroLeague with Anadolu Efes.
