"Polish media are literally destroying me for my trip to Russia"

The youngest player in the history of Phoenix and the youngest player in the history of the Euroleague (before Luka Doncic), the winner of the European Cup with UNICS, the MVP of the 2010/11 Russian Championship regular season, the Spanish champion with Barcelona Maciej Lampe recently visited Russia. In an interview with Izvestia and Sport-Express, the famous center spoke about how Poland reacted to his visit to Moscow, shared vivid details of his eventful career, and also told about his friend Jonas Zherebko, who was bullied in Sweden because of his contract with CSKA.

"2x2 basketball helps to develop important elements of the game"

— Maciej, you came to Russia a few weeks ago. What was the purpose of the visit?

— I wanted to see old friends. I haven't been to Russia for a long time and at the same time I wanted to present my new project to the Russian Basketball Federation.

— What kind of project is this?

— The tournament that I have already held in Sweden, Poland and Serbia. For 2026 L2x2C.com It is planned to be held in Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, as well as in France and Kazakhstan. His concept is 2x2 basketball with special rules that help develop the right basketball skills and qualities from an early age.

One of the rules is this. I combine two or three age categories into one group, and only one player from the older age group can be on the court at a time. As a result, you're always playing against either an older or a younger opponent. The team has a minimum of three players, a maximum of five, with no more than two from the older age group. Another important rule is no more than five hits of the ball per possession. This makes the game very dynamic and fast. Children like this format.

I hold tournaments separately for boys and girls. We have already done four tournaments, and everyone was very satisfied. I discussed this with Vladimir Dyachok (General Secretary of the Russian Federation. — Ed.), because I think that such a format is necessary now. 3x3 is a different game, almost a different sport. One-on-one does not develop important elements of basketball — passes, barriers. That's why I chose the 2x2 format. I think it helps to progress faster.

— Which of your old acquaintances did you meet in Russia?

— With Igor Tkachenko and his father, with Amiran Amirkhanov, we played together at UNICS. I saw Anton Ponkrashov. I wanted to meet with Vova Veremeenko, but it didn't work out in time. I also met with one legendary coach, Evgeny Yakovlevich Gomelsky. I also talked with representatives of BC Khimki, the club where I started my career after returning from the NBA.

— What have you been doing in recent years after completing your playing career?

— To be honest, after finishing my career, I didn't immediately understand what I wanted to do. I didn't do much for the first two years. It seemed that discipline was no longer needed, that one could live as one pleased. But in the end, I just got stuck — I stood still and didn't move anywhere. At the beginning of this year, I went to Asia and realized a lot for myself there: what I want to live on, how I see my future. I realized that the first half of my life was over — I had been playing professional basketball for 22 years. The second one is starting now.

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Since July of this year, I have already held four or five tournaments, one coaching seminar, was very active and worked a lot. In six months we have held tournaments in three countries, and I am really proud of that. I also organized a coaching clinic for the first time and plan to conduct about four such seminars per year. I think this is very important for the development of young coaches. I want to stay in basketball, I want to coach, that's my main goal. As I have said in other interviews, in the future I would like to join the coaching staff of Real Madrid with Sergio Scariolo, where I started my professional career as a player. There is such a possibility.

"Media publications are an attempt to strike at my name"

— The Polish media write a lot about your visit to Russia. Did you see that?

— Yes, unfortunately. They are literally destroying me for this trip.

— Can you explain what's going on?

— Yes, no problem. For example, the articles say that my arrival in Russia allegedly became a scandal because of the situation in Ukraine. They call me stupid and irresponsible. There are also publications that are posted on social networks. It's very sad.

— Did you have any problems with sponsors or partners after this visit?

— Some sponsors and partners also reacted negatively when they found out about my trip to Moscow. I think that all misunderstandings will be eliminated.

— Do you think this is absurd?

— Yes, it's stupid. And just sad. I work very hard, I try to develop my tournaments, I put my efforts into it. And it's hard to get such a reaction from the Polish media. I believe that politics and sports should not mix. I'm doing a good job, developing basketball. And, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the fact that I came to Russia.

I've been playing here for almost five years, I know the country, and I think it's a great place to host such tournaments. And such publications are an attempt to strike at my name. It's just sad, I don't even know what else to say.

— Do you expect the pressure in Poland to increase after the next trips?

— I didn't expect such negative attention. But it's there— what can I do? Just keep doing your job.

I think they are wrong when they speak out like that and try to blacken my name. I am convinced that sport should unite and not mix with politics. I have my own opinion about world politics, but I don't see anything wrong with traveling to different countries and developing basketball.

— Was your visit to Russia the first in how many years?

— Since 2011. The last time I played was in Kazan. That makes it almost 14 years.

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"I signed a contract with Khimki for $9 million."

— Let's go back to your Russian times. Who suggested that you join Dynamo St. Petersburg in 2006?

— It was my agent's idea. The contract was very good — even better than I could earn overseas. I didn't get much playing time in the NBA back then, but I wanted to play. I was ready for this. Besides, I spoke Polish, and Russia has always been a country where I was interested in going. I came to Dynamo, but the club went bankrupt literally on the day of my arrival. I did one training session — a good training session. They saw me and offered me exactly the same contract at Khimki, where my professional career in Russia began.

— How do you remember that period?

— There were many veteran players in the team at the end of their careers. And I was hungry, energized, ready to fight. It was a real chance for me. Then there was another difficult situation — a strike. The management wanted to fire the coach, who was also the general manager. In the locker room, almost everyone raised their hands for the strike. I'm not. I said: "I want to play." I thought that if another coach came, I would have more minutes.

Some players took offense at me, but I stood my ground. As a result, the coach was fired, Kastutis Kemzura came in. And that's when we beat Dynamo Moscow in the match for third place. Papadopoulos and Dusan Ivkovic were playing against us then.

— Was it the first season?

- yes. After that, I signed a three—year contract — the biggest contract for players my age - $9 million for three years, and I was 22-23 years old. I left early, refused the money for the remaining two years. I told Mr. Bychkov (Viktor Bychkov, former general director of the Moscow club. — Ed.): "Pay me only for this season." I only got $1.5 million, but I refused two years and $7.5 million. After that, I moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv, where things didn't go well. And already during that season, I ended up in Kazan, and the second chapter of my career in Russia began there. In the second season, I became the MVP of the Russian championship and won the European Cup.

— Whose idea was it to join UNICS?

"Mine." I have already played in Russia and I knew that UNICS is a top-3 team. I understood that they have great potential in the European Cup. I wanted to win this tournament, and that's exactly how it turned out. In the first year, I was building in, and in the second, we made a serious breakthrough and had a great season. I enjoyed living and playing in Russia, and I had great success there.

— What was the level of basketball in Russia in those years? How can it be compared in Europe?

— The level was very high. If you look at the lineups of the teams, the players, it was the top. I would say the top 3 in Europe.

— At the level of Spain and Turkey?

— I would say Spain, Greece and Russia. There were three strong clubs in Greece. But, in my opinion, the toughest competition is in Spain. I later played there for Caja Laboral and Barcelona, with whom I won the Spanish championship. But I can safely put the Russian championship on a par with the strongest leagues in Europe, especially considering the level of players.