October 2023. Transferred from the Raptors to the Spurs during the season, Khem Birch is cut before the start of the season with a big check for $7 million. Financially secure, the Canadian center is in a bad way mentally. He hasn't set foot on a field in ten months, missed the World Cup and his dreams of the Olympic Games are gone with this dismissal. Especially since no team is picking up the phone to call him. At 31, Birch is suffering from a sore right knee and surgery and treatment have not changed anything.
“I was playing with this injury and it wasn't just about healing,” specifies the Montrealer. “A lot of people thought I was faking it… It seemed crazy to me because if you saw me and you saw how I played compared to before, when I was healthy, it’s completely different. There’s not a lot of people who came out to support me…”
Relaunched by Marc Gasol… in Spain!
Even though his Federation supports him, he is considering the worst: early retirement from sport. “When I got cut, I wasn't ready. I wasn't healthy at all. So I thought maybe I wouldn't be able to play anymore,” he remembers. “Other teams had me try out, but I couldn't do it.”
But Khem Birch hung on. He focused on his physique with the help of a physical trainer in Orlando. He confided in his loved ones, including his wife, about his mental state. And then, everything fell into place. His knee no longer hurt, and after 19 months without playing, it was Marc Gasol, who like him had played for the Raptors, who gave him a chance! President of Bàsquet Girona, he called him in February and offered him a contract. A stint that he finished with 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in 19 minutes, and it was enough to land a place for the Canada training camp. In training, he proved that he had found his level again, and Jordi Fernandez kept him to go to Paris.
“I almost wanted to cry. If you had told me last year that I would be part of the team or even that I would play at a high level again, I probably would not have believed you or taken you seriously,” Birch confides. “Now that I'm here, it's crazy because I never imagined I'd come back.”
Enough to give him hope of playing in the NBA again. “I'm definitely going to try to come back, give myself one last chance because I worked so hard to get there after not being drafted.”he recalls. “I will wait patiently and we will see. I am not in a hurry. I just want to wait for the best opportunity and then we will see…”
