This afternoon, longtime Hawks center Zaza Pachulia will make his return back to Philips Arena for the first time since he signed his 3-year, $15.6 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Pachulia's home is still in Atlanta and he's even spent some time here since then.
"Absolutely," said Pachulia. "Of course it is nice. For anybody, being at home is the best feeling, especially after being away for a couple months. Spending time at home is priceless. This is my home. Everything is still here. Even my clothes, even my summer clothes because I couldn’t use them (in Milwaukee in the winter)."
The tenured veteran spent seven years in Atlanta, had two season where he averaged double digits in points and played in over 556 gamnes as a member of the Hawks.
When asked what kind of reaction he would get from the fans, Pachulia said that he was sure it'd be a 'welcome-back' type attitude.
"All positive," he said. "I'm sure fans will love to see me too because I think we had a special relationship, a good relationship with the fans and all the people we know in Atlanta. People who came to the games a lot and I got a chance to see on the court. Plus, thanks to social media I’m getting a lot of positive feedback. I tweeted last night when we were taking off from Minnesota (going to Atlanta) and I’ve been getting a lot of tweets from my followers. That tells you something. That tells you how excited they are and absolutely I’m excited."
After being such a fan favorite in Atlanta for so long, he must have so many emotions running through his head when he steps back on that Philips Arena court for the first time since his departure.
"A lot of things are going on in my head, in my heart. Good things. Positive," he said. "When people ask me about being back in Atlanta, I say I've been here the last 10 days mentally. When it got close to travelling to Atlanta I was thinking a lot about the excitement and the energy I was feeling coming here. I've never had this kind of problem before, I mean good problem. This is the first time I am dealing with this type of situation. My rookie year I just spent one year in Orlando and then one year in Milwaukee. Then Atlanta became my home. This is the first time I'm not playing in my home. I'm playing in a different city. That is what we are dealing with in coming back home. It's a great feeling. It doesn't matter if it's in the season, in the offseason, when you are away from your home you miss everything. I’m no different. I'm just a regular person dealing with the same thing being here in the city of Atlanta. There are a lot of great memories here. A lot. There were some bad experiences but I had a lot of good experiences. Since I'm a positive guy I'm going to just think about all the good things I had here. Friends. Family. All my three kids were born in Atlanta. This place is special so I call it home in the U.S."
Pachulia's home is still in Atlanta and he's even spent some time here since then.
"Absolutely," said Pachulia. "Of course it is nice. For anybody, being at home is the best feeling, especially after being away for a couple months. Spending time at home is priceless. This is my home. Everything is still here. Even my clothes, even my summer clothes because I couldn’t use them (in Milwaukee in the winter)."
The tenured veteran spent seven years in Atlanta, had two season where he averaged double digits in points and played in over 556 gamnes as a member of the Hawks.
When asked what kind of reaction he would get from the fans, Pachulia said that he was sure it'd be a 'welcome-back' type attitude.
"All positive," he said. "I'm sure fans will love to see me too because I think we had a special relationship, a good relationship with the fans and all the people we know in Atlanta. People who came to the games a lot and I got a chance to see on the court. Plus, thanks to social media I’m getting a lot of positive feedback. I tweeted last night when we were taking off from Minnesota (going to Atlanta) and I’ve been getting a lot of tweets from my followers. That tells you something. That tells you how excited they are and absolutely I’m excited."
After being such a fan favorite in Atlanta for so long, he must have so many emotions running through his head when he steps back on that Philips Arena court for the first time since his departure.
"A lot of things are going on in my head, in my heart. Good things. Positive," he said. "When people ask me about being back in Atlanta, I say I've been here the last 10 days mentally. When it got close to travelling to Atlanta I was thinking a lot about the excitement and the energy I was feeling coming here. I've never had this kind of problem before, I mean good problem. This is the first time I am dealing with this type of situation. My rookie year I just spent one year in Orlando and then one year in Milwaukee. Then Atlanta became my home. This is the first time I'm not playing in my home. I'm playing in a different city. That is what we are dealing with in coming back home. It's a great feeling. It doesn't matter if it's in the season, in the offseason, when you are away from your home you miss everything. I’m no different. I'm just a regular person dealing with the same thing being here in the city of Atlanta. There are a lot of great memories here. A lot. There were some bad experiences but I had a lot of good experiences. Since I'm a positive guy I'm going to just think about all the good things I had here. Friends. Family. All my three kids were born in Atlanta. This place is special so I call it home in the U.S."