^{Translation of article in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 18 November 2020, by Philip Selmann: “Efterlod sin forlovede i USA: “Hvorfor gør jeg det her?”}

It is difficult for QJ Peterson to be far away from his family in the US. However, the Bakken Bears points leader has learned how to handle the deprivation.

Staying on in Cyprus simply was not worth the trouble.

First of all, the housing situation was a mess for QJ Peterson, who played for Apoel Nicosia. The 26-year-old basketball player was moved from a hotel to an apartment and back into a hotel. Furthermore, it was unusual for the American to receive his salary on time, and if so, he rarely received the full amount.

After nine games on the Mediterranean island, the Bears player requested to be released from his contract. It was too difficult for him to be away from his family and life in the US, when life off the court was so messy. This year, QJ Peterson has settled in a whole lot better with the Danish side Bakken Bears, for which he is the points leader in the Danish league as well as in the Basketball Champions League.

This Wednesday, Italian side Dinamo Sassari will visit the home court in Aarhus, Ceres Arena, and the point guard will most likely play a crucial part if the Aarhus side are to beat the undefeated Italians. However, his transition to life as a professional basketball player overseas has sometimes been difficult, and the Bears point guard previously considered early retirement.

Is the deprivation worth it?

In 2017, when QJ Peterson left the US to play in the Czech Republic, after four years of college basketball, he was well aware that he would face times in which the distance to his family would become a mental challenge. The situation in Cyprus, however, was too much, and so the American sometimes wondered if playing professional basketball really justified the deprivation.

“Yes, you’re doing what you love for a living, but at the end of the day, your loved ones and your old life is at home. Every day, I thought hard about my situation and the purpose of it all. I was thinking, what am I doing this for? If you only play basketball for your own sake, it usually ends up as a defeat,” says QJ Peterson.

However, the American has matured with time, and he believes it comes down to playing basketball for more than just your own sake. For instance, he would like to prove to the youngsters from his hometown of Hedgesville in West Virginia that it is definitely possible to play basketball for a living, even though you are not the tallest person in the world.

Moreover, QJ Peterson wants to create a better life for his fiancé, Kayla Dietrich, in the future, even though they are not currently able to be together. Bakken Bears’ number 7 got engaged in July, a few weeks before leaving for Denmark and Aarhus, and it was difficult to have to leave home.

“We haven’t had any quality time together, and it’s just not the same to see each other on a screen. For instance, I would like to come home to her after work. We talk on the phone every day, but it’s still tough to not be able to physically be in the same place. I hope to play in the US next season, but if I don’t, she may come with me. But she also has her own wants and needs, so we will make that decision later on,” says QJ Peterson.

Until then, he is enjoying playing for Bakken Bears where most things are very organized. There are no problems with his contract, and he enjoys living in the northern Aarhus suburb Trøjborg close to the sea and forest.

Scoring is not important

Aarhus is nice and clean. The buildings are not smashed or worn like in the Ukraine, and there is not as much litter in the streets as in the US. On top of that, most Danes speak English.

People did, however, turn their heads when QJ rode down the street on an electric scooter carrying a 50” flat screen. In general, though, the people in Aarhus are nice, and the teammates have made it easy for the point guard to adjust to his new surroundings. In his first three appearances, he scored no less than 30 points per game, and ever since then, he has held on to the position of points leader for the team in all tournaments. This is not something he particularly strives for, though.

“It may seem that way, but eventually my job is to do what I can to help us win the game. The team comes before my personal stats, and it doesn’t mean anything to me to be points leader in Champions League, because we didn’t win any games yet. But that will come, and I definitely believe that we have a rightful spot as part of the tournament.

WATCH BAKKEN BEARS VS DINAMO SASSARI (BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)