BY BRETT KOREMENOS

It was another suffocatingly hot September morning in Arizona. Over 90 degrees again. I was on my couch, basking in the cool air-conditioned breeze. In front of me, a sea of words and images rolled down my iPad screen as I scrolled through Twitter. All of a sudden, a red-bearded, pale-faced Texan was staring right back at me. Tom. 

Zalgiris Kaunas, Tom’s new team, had just posted an introductory video. With the team’s preseason underway, the club was making sure its fanbase knew one of their newest members. 

I watched the video before forwarding it to Tom with a semi-sarcastic note: “You’re big time now! No wonder why you haven’t had time to check in!” 

A few minutes later my phone vibrated, and I picked up to hear Tom’s baritone voice on the other end of the line. He filled me in on his new situation. The only thing I knew before that phone call was that Zalgiris was in Lithuania and they played in EuroLeague. That changed quickly. 

“So what’s cool is that everyone over…