Sarunas Jasikevicius admitted that competing against Zalgiris Kaunas carried an extra emotional weight due to his deep personal ties to the club and its coaching staff.
The veteran coach described the situation as difficult on a personal level, especially given the respect and affection he still holds for the organization where he spent key years of his career.
“It’s actually worse because of Zalgiris. Because I love this team so much, I love their head coach so much. He’s like a family to me.”
Despite the emotions, Jasikevicius emphasized that professional responsibilities came first, and he had to remain focused on helping his own team succeed.
“But destiny brought us here. We had to do our job. I did the best job possible for my team.”
