If I were to count how many overseas ballers were following the 2026 NBA Finals and sharing their feedback on social media, it would have been like counting apples in a meadow in Apple Hill in Sacramento California. Any NBA finals is a delight to watch, but the 2026 NBA finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs were an incredible experience with each game being like a 7th game type of feeling. The excitement of the games were infectious and just drew everyone to the tube. Well almost everyone. I reach Isaiah Swope (178-PG-2003, college: St.Louis) on a Saturday night while the World Cup was in full swing and Brazil-Morocco were tied 1-1 during our chat in the first half. When I asked Isaiah Swope about his feedback to the 3-1 Knicks series lead with game 5 happening a few hours later, I couldn´t get one. “I honestly can´t tell you. I haven´t been able to watch a single game yet. I have simply been too busy with family and friends. I hope to watch game 5 tonight. My favorite team are the Thunder. I will be happy for whatever team wins the title”, stressed Isaiah Swope. Can the Spurs do the impossible and come back from a 3-1 deficit and win 3 games in a row? “I think the possibility is there for the Spurs to win 3 in a row, but also for the Knicks to win 1 game. Both are really good teams that know how to score the ball. Anything is possible”, warned Isaiah Swope. In the end, the Knicks won 4-1 winning their first title again in 53 years. Both the knicks and Spurs have really good guards. Is there a player from either teams that he enjoys to watch most? “Not really. I like to watch good basketball, but try to focus on myself. The NBA and Euro ball are two different styles”, stated Isaiah Swope. He still has about 2 more months before returning to Frankfurt for season 2. Did he go on a vacation when his rookie season ended or does he have any trip planned? “I went home when the season ended. The season was long and I just wanted to spend as much time as possible with family and friends. My main focus is spending time with family and friends and continuing to work on my game this summer”, warned Isaiah Swope.

The rookie season for Isaiah Swope and the Skyliners was one that ended in 15th place. When one looked at the player personal, one would of projected a better finish for the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup winner, but there were a lot of factors that came into play like injuries and top player Jaedon LeDee leaving the team in Feb 2026. In the last game against ratiopharm Ulm there were 9 injuries where 6 Pro B players had to help out. The great Isolation player doesn´t like to speculate and have those what if questions lingering in his mind about how the season could have gone had certain things happened differently, “The goal is always to win. I´m not big on thinking about what if scenario´s. We had injury problems in the down stretch of the season. I have been on a few teams where we had a lot of injuries but never 9 guys. Our Pro B guys did a good job playing smart and competing. Even if we did finish in 15th place, there were a lot of factors that add in to that happening. My focus is always to get better as a team and a player. When you face adversary, one has to figure things out and clean it up and see how one can be better. For me it is a blessing that I will play in Frankfurt again and can become better”, stressed Isaiah Swope. A massive problem of the Skyliners was losing the close games. It really felt like they couldn’t get any brakes in any of the close games. The team lost 10 games out of the 22 by 5 points or less. Winning 5 of those could of put them in the playdowns. But it just wasn´t meant to be. The team had guys with LeDee and Swope that could close out games well and won a few games for the team, but was it missing another guy that could close out games? “No I don´t think so. It had more to do with our defense than our ability to be able to score points”, warned Isaiah Swope. Having the inability to play better defense under head coach Klaus Perwas was a mystery. Back a decade ago, the Skyliners always belonged to the best defensive teams in the easyCredit BBL under Gordon Herbert and Perwas, but why not now? The team scored 80 points per game, but allowed 86 points. “The competition level in the BBL is high. It is a good league with great players and smart coaches. We had a new team and had inexperience against experienced teams. We had to have found a way to win when there was no way”, warned Isaiah Swope. The team had massive misfortune losing it´s last 7 games running their chance early for a Playdowns opportunity. Even that stretch was horrible, the American tries to always remain positive and be grateful for the whole learning experience. “I´m so thankful that I could play in another country and experience so much. Each day was an experience. I believe I learned more off the court than on the court. I don´t put any weight on the team results, but more emphasis on what I did on a day to day basis”, said Isaiah Swope.

Isaiah Swope had many teammates and he had relationships with them that he won´t forget. One of those Was American Logan Johnson who won a G-League dunk contest once and always gave good energy when he was on the court. “It was a great experience being teammates with him. I´m really glad we crossed paths. We were able to build a real relationship being around him every day”, said Isaiah Swope. Another player where he had no problem finding positive words about was Tyger Campbell. The ex Vechta player came at the end, but needed no adjustment time to his new team. “He came under difficult circumstances, but he had a positive effect on me as well. He helped me a lot with my playmaking”, remembered Isaiah Swope. Swope also witnessed the continued development and emergence of young German Jamie Edoka who won the 2026 AST title being named tournament MVP and helped the NBBL U-19 team reach the top 4 in Berlin. Will Edoka make his easyCredit BBL break through next season? “He is young and really talented. I think that he easily could. He is on a good path. If he stays true to working then I don´t see why not”, stressed Isaiah Swope. The ex St Louis University (NCAA) guard had difficulty finding a most improved player on the team. “I think that every single guy improved. We obviously didn´t have the results that we wanted, but when you go through adversary, it helps everyone improve a little”, added Isaiah Swope.

The ex Indiana State (NCAA) guard and averaged 15/1/4/1 stats and shot 34% from the parking lot. He is a guy that doesn´t like to talk about his stats. “I went to Germany with an open mind. I knew that I wasn´t going to be perfect. I never base my season on stats. I try to keep building off what I learned and build off that with wins”, stated Isaiah Swope. He was very consistent as a rookie with his scoring scoring in double figures in 30 of 34 games. He put in a lot of hard work on a daily basis, but also had other help. “I had really good coaches and teammates that just allowed me to be myself. I adapted well to my new role and got more and more comfortable with the Euro style”, commented Isaiah Swope. His shooting was solid during his rookie season. He had the ball in his hands a lot and had to create many own shots which had his shooting fluctuate throughout the season. He knows what he will do now in the off season to be even better in year 2. “I will watch a lot of film and see what was good and bad. I will work on those areas and come back better”, stressed Isaiah Swope. It isn´t only his offensive game that he wants to improve, but also his defensive game. “The styles are different when adjusting from college to overseas. It all has to do with watching film and live adjustments. I have to really try to understand the film and learn from it. It is a continuous path that I have to take and give effort and get better and build off that. I have to continue to stay sharp”, warned Isaiah Swope. The Indiana native will return for a second season and also be challenged playing Eurocup where his experience will grow as well. “I made the decision to come back, because it simply felt right. I didn´t force anything, because it felt natural. Coming back made sense with moving ahead with my career. I love Frankfurt and am very appreciative and grateful that the organization have the trust in my abilities”, said Isaiah Swope. One would have thought his Chemnitz buzzer beater or 41 point explosion against Trier was his favorite rookie moment on the court, but he couldn´t pin point just one moment. “My favorite moment was the whole year. I can´t choose just one moment. I take a collection of last season and am so grateful that I could be a rookie in Germany and do something I never thought I could ever experience on the other side of the world”, stressed Isaiah Swope. It will be interesting to see how Isaiah Swope performs in his second season in Germany. Both the Skyliners and Isaiah Swope could use some success with wins in 2026-2027