Sammy Mejia, my good friend whom I met during our time in Moscow and happened to stay in touch throughout the last decade has had a unique career that started at DePaul University and took him to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (D-League at the time). He decided early to take on a new career in Europe and signed a contract in Italy his first year. After he finished the 2008 season in Italy, he signed a one year deal in Greece the following year and learned his ways around Europe. The following two seasons, 2009-2011, were the most defining of Sammy’s career because he earned MVP honors and climbed the ladder to the top level organisation in Europe, CSKA Moscow. After a season in Russia he turned to play in Turkey and spend the rest of his career (8 years) on two different teams.

On this episode, Sammy told me about his humble beginnings in New York as well as the DLeague life and how he came about to make the decision to leave midway through the season to join Capo d’Orlando in Italy. He told me about the defining times in France and how and why his career started to take off after that. We talked briefly about our time together in Moscow as well as his time in Turkey. The crucial decision to go into 2nd division of Turkey and the faith he showed in the Coach.

The bulk of our discussion was obviously centred around retirement and facing new challenges in his life. How he went about deciding to retire during the pandemic and how difficult the decision was. The biggest challenge of redefining yourself without looking back too much. We also touched on the current challenge of proving himself again and basically starting over with a new role within the same business. Being Humble and embracing a new role!

Topics:

Background
Decision to Leave the DLeague (2008)
Ability to Reflect
Reality hits in Europe
Success in France
Importance of Chemistry
Dealing with Challenge at CSKA
Moving to Turkey
Decision Process/Moving to 2nd Division
Approaching Retirement
Redefining Yourself
Researching Retirement
Purpose / Group Dynamics
Next Step / New Identity
Humble / Realistic Approach

Finding Sammy Mejia:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammymejia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/smejia83

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