MONTPELLIER, France -- One second left. In overtime. Game tied. Alex Renfroe drives to the basket and then threads the ball through the eye of a needle to his grateful teammate Elmedin Kikanovic to duly stuff a winning score. The Israeli players walk off, heads bowed in deflation. On the court behind them, the 12 good men of Bosnia and Herzegovina dance in a circle, accepting the euphoric screams of their traveling fans.
Renfroe can hear the platitudes floating down from above, celebrating his team's first win at EuroBasket 2015. Unlike his teammates, he doesn't understand a single word.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, raised in Hermitage, Tennessee, the 29-year-old American point guard does not stand apart simply by the color of his skin. Until two months ago, he had spent a total of only two days in one of the smaller nations to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. In double quick time, he has submitted his candidature to be a national hero.
The call came through his agent. Would he be interested in following in the tradition of other compatriots in suiting up for a foreign country and becoming the one naturalized player per team allowed under FIBA regulations? Why not, he thought. And so he boarded a plane, leaving his wife, Brandi, and their then-3-month-old daughter, Olivia, behind at their home in Tennessee to effectively try out for the roster.
"I'd never been to Sarajevo before so this was a first," he recounts of his arrival. "It's a small city. When I got there I don't know what I was expecting. But I didn't expect the warm welcome I got. Being in the city, having people come and talk to me. Because I wasn't very familiar with Bosnia, except for the war. It's been so warm, all the guys on the team, the people who see me have been very nice."
Fortunately, theirs is one of the few anthems without words. Less to learn. "But they've been trying to teach me some things and I've tried to pick up some things. They've got some X-rated words. I know all the play calls in Bosnian. Some foods I'm supposed to eat while I'm in Bosnia. But that's about all."
The unusual feels natural, he says, after spending the past six years as an American in Europe, a nomad flitting from one country to the next in search of a job and a fresh adventure after he went undrafted coming out of Belmont University in Nashville, turning down a training camp invite from the Golden State Warriors in 2012 in favor of guaranteed money overseas.
From Latvia to Croatia to Italy and Spain, then Belgium, Russia and now Germany, Renfroe had to learn to adapt on the fly, on and off the court. "Over here, they call me a journeyman because I go from team to team every year." Before signing a rookie deal with Latvian club VEF Riga, he had previously ventured only once outside the United States. For the first time, he was truly on his own.
"It started off rough," he recounts. "I dropped my wallet on the plane. I had some visa issues when I got to the passport control which I wasn't familiar with and I don't think they were either. So it started off pretty bad. But after a few weeks I got used to it. It was all new. It was a different experience."
There have been many more since, he smiles, some not fit to print. "I had situations where, me being an American, I wasn't familiar with things in Europe, like how the time changes the week before. So of course I didn't know this.
"They were calling me about practice. I was like: 'My clock says this.' They're like: 'You're supposed to know this.' I'm a little stubborn, saying my time doesn't change until next week. We had this big back-and-forth with the general manager. I ended up getting fined. There were a lot of things I wasn't pleased about at the time. Now I look back at it and laugh on it but it seemed a big deal at the time."
In Europe, where salaries at large clubs like FC Barcelona of Spain and Turkish club Fenerbahce can easily surpass NBA minimums, the money is part compensation for coping with conditions that are not always five-star. In 2013, Renfroe took a gig with Yenisey Krasnoyarsk, a Russian League team based in Siberia, just the place for a kid from the South to spend a winter.
The basketball was good. The players were treated well, he confirms. However, once he ventured out into the cold, the reception was a little chillier.
"It wasn't the easiest place," he recalls. "When they see black guys, they think of movies. The first thing that comes to mind is that they'll go: 'Wassup, N-word.' This is always awkward.
"Sometimes you say something; sometimes you let things go. It's one of those things that, as a black guy, you really dread when it comes up. You can't always talk up but you can't let people walk all over you."
It has still been worth it, making the journeys, taking it all in. His family will join him when EuroBasket is over. Next stop is Germany, and a two-year deal with the basketball offshoot of soccer giants Bayern Munich. "All my friends are telling me I have to go to a soccer game this year," he laughs. "I hope they invite us."
If Bosnia and Herzegovina do advance past the first round of EuroBasket by defeating Russia on Thursday in final Round 1 game, he will have all the invitations he can handle back in Sarajevo. For a nation overshadowed by the basketball goliaths of Serbia and Croatia, surviving to the round of 16 would be an accomplishment to make an entire country proud.
As the noise continues in the arena, the arms of his coach, Dusko Ivanovic, appear around Renfroe's shoulders, praise but also acceptance. One win but also a repayment on the team's investment.
"It's amazing, man. I can only imagine how the guys who have been with the Bosnian team for a while are feeling. This is special for me. And I've only been Bosnian for a month."
