NIK KHAHBAHRAMI Mohammadsamad

General
POSSIBLE RETIREMENT
He has considered retiring from the sport following the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Right now [speaking in February 2021], I only think about the Olympics. However, when a player reaches a certain age, motivation is very important. Physically and technically, my most important motivation in recent years has been to participate in the Olympics. Most likely, my farewell will take place after the Olympics. Now that I am playing, it is very difficult to say goodbye and I have postponed everything until after the Olympics." (varzesh3.com, 02 Feb 2021)

PUTTING IRAN ON THE MAP
He was part of the Iranian team that won the 2007 Asia Cup in Tokushima, Japan, and qualified the Islamic Republic of Iran for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. It was the first time since 1948 that the Iranian basketball team had qualified for the Games in 60 years. "We had a good team and we practised really hard. I remember [the president of the Iranian Basketball Federation] wrote on the board that if we won, we would qualify for the Olympics and that our professional lives would change. I had no idea what the Olympics were. Then the next year, I was part of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing and I was thinking 'Okay, he was right'. He was right, everything changed. I think that was a turning point for Iranian basketball." (tehrantimes.com, 02 Aug 2020; fiba.basketball, 21 Jul 2020)