US basketball player Wes Iwundu is 8,500 kilometers from his home for the festival. At Rasta Vechta, the 29-year-old former NBA player enjoys the family atmosphere and especially the Christmas markets.
“The club is great, the people are all super nice and helpful. I feel very comfortable,” says the 1.98 meter man, who played in more than 200 NBA games, including alongside Slovenia’s superstar Luka Doncic can look back.
“I love Christmas markets. The smells, the food, mulled wine – just great.”
—Wes Iwundu
The fact that he has to spend the Christmas season away from home for the first time is not too difficult for him. “Two friends of mine came to visit,” reports the native Texan, who also had his birthday four days before Christmas Eve.
And then there are the Christmas markets: “I love them. The smells, the food, mulled wine – just great.” Münster, Oldenburg, Hamburg – Iwundu has already looked at some of the markets that enjoy a great reputation in the USA and should not be missing from the to-do list when visiting from America in the winter. “I like the sociable atmosphere,” says the US boy.
With spectacular basketball into the Rasta heart
The small forward himself has long since played his way into the hearts of Rasta supporters with many spectacular scenes. His performance record: 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists on average per game. Flat land instead of skyscrapers: After previous stops in the metropolises of Houston, Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta and New Orleans, Iwundu has arrived in the town of 30,000 in the Lower Saxony province.
Rasta is Iwundu’s first basketball adventure in Europe. The all-rounder had to struggle the most with the time change after his move in the summer. “It took me a good month to get into the rhythm. Sleeping, eating times, training – I had to adapt first,” Iwundu looks back. Now all of this is no longer a problem.
Iwundu also surprises club boss Niemeyer
The fact that the NBA-experienced Iwundu, who played in the “Second League” last year, would integrate so quickly into Vechta was not a given for those in charge. “When I heard who was coming to us, I thought to myself: Hopefully he really has the motivation to play here,” emphasizes club boss Stefan Niemeyer in the “BIG Postgame” podcast.
But the boss’s worries were unfounded. “I’m really happy about the attitude this man shows,” says Niemeyer. For Iwundu himself, however, that’s not a big deal: “I’m a guy who can always adapt and integrate quickly. And here in Vechta they made it particularly easy for me.”
As a BBL promoted straight into the play-offs?
In view of eighth place after twelve games in the Basketball Bundesliga, Iwundu emphasizes: “I think we have a good chance of reaching the play-offs. Our strong performances as promoted teams may be surprising to outsiders, but they are to us internally not.” Most recently, Vechta had the surprise first team Chemnitz on the verge of defeat in the Rasta Dome, but in the end they unfortunately lost 80:81. In the BBL Cup we made it to the quarter-finals.
During the preparation, we noticed how much potential there was in the squad, said Iwundu: “Many players stayed who were promoted with the club and know the structures here very well. They made integration very easy for us new ones, so we We were able to deliver our services quickly.”
With mulled wine and FaceTime in Christmas spirit
However, there is hardly any time for homesickness given the busy schedule, especially since the away game at Mitteldeutsche BC in Weißenfels is scheduled for Boxing Day.
Iwundu will spend the days until then with his friends or on FaceTime, where he can at least celebrate Christmas together with his family. And maybe there’s one or two mulled wine in there too.
