JAZZ INSIDER: A conversation with Mehmet Okur

[RonnieBrewer (Ronnie Brewer)]

JAZZ INSIDER: A conversation with Mehmet Okur
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:12/03/2006 03:00:54 AM MST

The 27-year-old center is from Yalova, Turkey, and is in his third season
with the Jazz. He and his wife Yaliz are expecting their first child near
the end of the season.

    If you weren't in the NBA, what would you be doing?
    If not in sports, maybe a policeman. It was my dream when I was little.
You know, 'OK, look at these guys, they're tough. I want to be like those
guys.' "

    When did you realize you could be a pro athlete?
    I got tall when I was 14. My dad took me to a basketball club [Efes
Pilsen] and said 'Teach him. ' I had never touched a basketball in my life,
but club said, 'Yeah, you can play.' I worked every day, learned about
scoring, rebounding. Then it was my dream to come to United States and play
in NBA.

    Who is most responsible for you getting to the NBA?
    My father, Abdullah Okur. He took me to club. It was the right time for
me to go. I was still playing soccer, [but] he told me, 'Look son, if you go
with these guys and work every day, you're going to be good.' I trust him. I
made new friends. It was hard at beginning, but it got to be fun. First time
I had been without family, I had two roommates when I was 14. I was little,
so I was scared. I was homesick. And he helped me stay with it.


                                       http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4764651

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