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Friday, January 16, 2009
Dedicated
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - When the Hawks finally make it back to Atlanta this weekend from their three-game Western Conference road swing, Zaza Pachulia will have a few more frequent flier miles in tow.
While his teammates hustled back to their Los Angeles hotel after Wednesday’s win over the Clippers, Pachulia headed for the airport and a red eye flight back to Atlanta.
Pachulia said he had to get back to begin the interviewing process for getting his Green Card (a process that should be completed in a few weeks).
That meant a five-hour flight back to Atlanta, hustling to make his appointment and then another flight Thursday evening back to California to meet the Hawks in San Francisco for tonight’s game against Golden State.
“It’s like flying back to Europe, it was so long,” Pachulia said by phone Friday morning from the Hawks’ team bus as they headed to shootaround practice. “I got back to Atlanta about 9:30 [Thursday morning], handled my business and then I was back on a plane at 7 [p.m.]. I got in here about 9:30 [Thursday night]. It’s like going from Atlanta to London. Man, it was a long day.”
Pachulia didn’t have to miss any work to get his business done. Hawks coach Mike Woodson gave the Hawks Thursday off. He took them out for a team lunch in Los Angeles before they boarded an afternoon flight for the quick hop to the Bay Area.
“Coach understands, obviously,” Pachulia said. “I told everyone months before, so they knew my situation and that this was something that I had to do. And as long as I didn’t have to miss a game or any practice I was fine.”
Sure, but with all that flying in such a short period of time, when did Pachulia have time to rest?
“On the plane,” he said and then laughed. “At least I tried to. But we’re used to it in this business. We fly so much that resting on the plane is just a part of our lives.”
Join Sekou Smith on Monday as he blogs live during the Hawks-Raptors game at Philips Arena at 2 p.m.
