Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos took to social media and called out Andrew Andrews amid talks between the two sides for the termination of his contract.
So far, Andrew Andrews has turned down all proposed offers to terminate his contract, thus he remains part of the “Greens” active roster.
Hence, Marius Grigonis is ineligible to play in the domestic games and the same will happen with either Derrick Williams or newcomer Matt Thomas in the Final-8 of the Greek Cup (February 16-19).
The American guard, who is under a two-year deal with Panathinaikos, wants to get paid the full amount of his contract, whereas the “Greens” offered $190K payable immediately and next summer’s buy-out.
For his part, Dimitris Giannakopoulos gave his take on the story and called out Andrew Andrews for his actions during the negotiations.
“He insists and says that if you don’t let me test myself in EuroLeague, I’m not leaving the Greek League roster. You can’t change him on your own, the player must accept it. So, he’s blackmailing.
A team can have as many players as they want and as many registered players they are allowed to have. It’s a coach’s irremovable right to assess which player they’ll use. We made him an offer to take all of his money in advance and leave the team, but nothing happened. He told us: ‘I’m going to sit here and get back at those who brought me here and don’t use me’.
I called him to my office and I told him that he’s right in everything, that we shouldn’t have brought you. You are upset and I apologize on behalf of everyone in the club. Take all the money and go. And he answered: “Thank you, I appreciate it but I’m not leaving.” So what can you do after that?” Dimitris Giannakopoulos said on his Instagram account.
The talks between the two sides remain ongoing and it remains to be seen when Andrew Andrews will officially part ways with Panathinaikos.
