Ahmad Caver (188-G-1996, college: ODU) is a 27 year old 188cm guard from Georgia playing his 5th professional season and first with JDA Dijon Bourgogne (France-Betclic ELITE ProA). Last season he played with the BC Wolves Vilnius (Lithuania-LKL) averaging 17.1ppg, 3.2rpg, Assists-3 (5.8apg), Steals-4 (1.9spg), FGP: 51.5%, 3PT: 33.9%, FT: 77.3%. He played his first 3 pro seasons with The Memphis Hustle (G-League playing a total of 98 games averaging 9.7ppg, 3.2rpg, 3.3apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 50.5%, 3PT: 31.1%, FT: 74.2% in his first season, 16.5ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.8apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 55.5%, 3PT: 42.5%, FT: 63.4% in his second season and 16.3ppg, 5.3rpg, Assists-2 (7.5apg), 1.7spg, FGP: 44.2%, 3PT: 31.3%, FT: 74.4% in his third season. He played 1 NBA game with the Indiana Pacers. He spoke to germanhoops.com before a Basketball Champions League game against the Telekom Baskets Bonn.

Thanks Ahmad for talking to germanhoops.com. Your playing your first season for JDA Dijon Bourgogne (France-Betclic ELITE ProA). After 3 years in the G-League and NBA and 2 NBA Summer Leagues after, have you now focused on Europe or do you feel like the NBA could still be realistic?

I still have a dream to play in the NBA, I know a career in Europe and overseas is still a great accomplishment but NBA still is my goal.

You signed in Israel but then the war in Gaza stopped play. How crazy were the first few months of the season for you?

It was very up and down for me, I was excited to play in Israel. I liked the team, the organization in Holon, I like everything about it but I had a death in the family that made a major impact on me leaving the team after the war happened.

How have you experienced basketball and life in Dijon? Is it a little different than Lithuania where people are really basketball fanatics?

Dijon is cool, I haven’t really done much but focus on basketball. Yea it’s definitely different, I think that fans in Lithuania were a little bit more into the game and more excited about basketball.

The team reached the BCL top 16 What do you believe has been the secret to the success? One has to admit that on paper the team isn´t as deep as other teams?

I think we just won the games we needed to win. I played a couple good games for the bcl and helped the team win. Yea we might not have the names like other teams but we play hard and together.

Was it a tough adjustment for you coming in so late in the season in late November? In the Pro A your averaging 10 minutes less than in Lithuania.

Yea I’ve never had to switch teams in the middle of the season so it was tough to switch and try to get back in game shape. Yea wasn’t really expecting to play that many minutes less than Lithuania. I was MVP and scoring leading last year so I wanted to grow on that with my career so it was unexpected.

What has it been like sharing the court with ultra veteran David Holston who is 38 and just keeps going and Cameron Hunt the ex NAIA player who has played with a chip on his shoulder his whole career? What have you learned to appreciate the most from each one?

Both of those guys are great players and even better teammates. I think we all helped each other by competing in practice. Always good to try to see where your skills are at when you’re playing different types of guards.

You are play way more minutes in the BCL. Do you have a different role to the Pro A and what has been key for you taking on a vital part of the offense?

I think we had a couple blow outs in the first round of games so that let me get more minutes in the BCL. I hoped for the same role and minutes in both leagues but some games just didn’t go as I thought they would.

What do you feel has been vital for your game being able to develop further overseas? What has your game gotten overseas since 2022 that it didn´t have prior to 2022?

More confidence and knowing I can play anywhere. I think my game has always been like this. A point guard that can basically do everything. If I need to score or be the floor general or a defensive stopper.

Last season you played with the BC Wolves Vilnius (Lithuania-LKL) leading the league in scoring averaging 17.1ppg, 3.2rpg, Assists-3 (5.8apg), Steals-4 (1.9spg), FGP: 51.5%, 3PT: 33.9%, FT: 77.3% and in the ENBL averaged 18.6ppg), 3.9rpg, 4.4apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 49.5%, 3PT: 25.9%, FT: 80.0%. What do you remember being your wake up call to being overseas where you knew that you were far away from home?

I think the preseason was my wake up call. Such a different preseason method than the NBA or the G-league.

How tough was it losing your first playoff series overseas to Jovana by only 9 points combined? What did you learn from this tough series loss?

It was very tough losing first round. Felt like we had a good enough team to make something happen. Injuries hurt us late in the year and we had a coaching change so it just was a little tough. I learned to try to help my teammates more around that time to be comfortable and be ready to compete. It was my first time so I focused on getting myself ready but I could’ve done a better job to help them.

You played your first 2 pro seasons with the Memphis Hustle. How did you experience the G-League and what was your wake up call to the G-League?

The experience in the G-League was good, helped me get my name out in the radar. My wake up call was when I played preseason with the Memphis Grizzlies. That introduced me to the NBA game and got my career started.

In your first season you had spans of less minutes and other times where you averaged 30 minutes per game. Did it sometimes feel like you had no idea how much time you would get? What was most challenging about the minutes?

I knew it was a process to get on the court constantly. I had great and experienced guards ahead of me so I just competed in practice, kept getting better, played intense defense and that helped me get on the court. The only challenge was getting used to not really playing. Never had to deal with that besides my freshmen year of college.

How tough was that second season where you only played 15 minutes? You averaged 16,0ppg and had 35 points against OKC. Do you sometimes wonder what could have been had you played a whole season?

Around that time my confidence was so high and I was excited to play again because of the pandemic. I wish we had a whole season but I for sure would’ve got picked up or a 10 day contract. I was on a really good place mentally and had a good routine.

n your third season with the Hustle you averaged 16.3ppg, 5.3rpg, Assists-2 (7.5apg), 1.7spg, FGP: 44.2%, 3PT: 31.3%, FT: 74.4%. You really had a great G-League season. Did it bother you that only 1 NBA game became of it?

Yea it bothered me because I thought I was good enough to play more or at least get more of an opportunity. I was grateful for the contract but I still wanted to showcase who I was as a player and a person.

Your game really blossomed that season in scoring and assists. You were just shy of 2 triple doubles. It isn´t always easy to score and get assists in the G-League where all want to score. How much pride did you take in that season when looking back?

I was just being me, a leader on the court. My coach ( Jason March) believed in me. He gave me the ball to be me and let me have fun. I’ve always been a good point guard and that year my assists showed.

You played 1 NBA game scoring a basket in 1 minute. You couldn´t have gotten a more interesting opponent than Brooklyn as you saw Durant, Harden and Kyrie. Which one of those 3 guys did you want to see most?

I think I was more shocked seeing KD and kyrie. Kyrie´s first game back from the vaccine incident but he looked like he been playing all season and KD had a quiet 30 plus game.

You played at Old Dominion (NCAA) from 2015-2019 winning the C-USA title in your senior year. What memories do you have of that win against W Kentucky?

I think just the atmosphere of that game was my memory. They beat us the year before 3 times and then that year we beat them all 3 times.

You lost in first game at March Madness against Purdue. You had a great 20 point game, but the team mustered only 48 points. How disappointing was this loss?

Of course we thought we had a chance to beat them but it wasn’t a disappointment for losing though. We had a bunch of ups and downs that year and to make to the tournament was a blessing.

You had many great games in the NCAA but where do you rank the 75-74 win over FIU where you scored 22 points?

That might’ve been the game I was sick right before. I had to get an iv because I was throwing up the day before and I lost a lot of weight. So that ranks high in my book.

How did head coach Jeff Jones groom and prepare you best for a pro career?

He prepared me by being an all around player. He preached defense and you weren´t going to play if you didn’t play defense so he helped me on that. He was a point guard when he played so we had that connection from day 1.

Who won a 1-1 in practice you or Randy Haynes?

Randy is one of my favorite players to watch and to play with. I’ll probably beat him 3 times and he’ll win 2 times lol that’s my guy though. He actually just came to my game.

Who is the toughest player that you ever faced in your life on the court that reached the NBA?

I played Donovan Mitchell in college my sophomore year. He was tough and I played with Brandon Ingram in AAU so those two.

Please name your 5 best teammates of all-time.

Brandon Ingram Randy Haynes Bj Stith Zoran Talley Aaron Bacote

Please name your personal NBA Mount Rushmore of past or present heads?

Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant Lebron James Shaq/ magic

Who is your GOAT and why?

Michael Jordan is THE goat. Outside of the accomplishments, he had that dog, wasn’t scared of the moment, had all the skill and athleticism, had a certain type of swag and grace to his game, and he was humble but he knew he was the best player on the court at all time. I put Kobe as my second goat.

Did you see the sequel to the classic Coming To America? Shouldn´t they have left it alone?

No I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to because none of them are better than the original one

Thanks Ahmad for the chat.