The Dario Party has arrived at BallinEurope. With Dario Šarić returning to Euroleague, back with Anadolu Efes, it’s our great pleasure to get the unique insights of Leviya Francesca. Welcome to DarioWatch.
Hi, I’m Lev. You may know me better as Lisco_2000 or the Dario Šarić girl. Three years ago, I started a column for Golden State of Mind titled DarioWatch. I wrote about a dozen articles chronicling Dario’s season with the Golden State Warriors before they unceremoniously burned out in the NBA play-in.
In the two and a half years since my last DarioWatch article, Dario had an unsuccessful season with the Denver Nuggets and a miserable stint with the Sacramento Kings before getting cut from the NBA altogether in February of 2026.
Since then, he’s found his way back to the Euroleague with Anadolu Efes, the team he played for between 2014 and 2016 when Sixers fans were waiting for him to come over, and luckily, the kind folks at Ball In Europe have given DarioWatch a new home.
In that same stretch of time since my final original DarioWatch column to today, to put it in perspective, I started grad school and finished grad school. I moved to New York City and moved out of New York City. I’ve lived a thousand lives. It’s been a long time.
What you need to know
Admittedly, I am an NBA-head. This is my first foray into the Euroleague. Here’s what I’ve learned about Efes so far:
MASCOT: Çaylak, a blue “tiger” with eerily human features.
TEAM NAME: Roughly translates to Turkish Beverages.
NBA EQUIVALENT: Maybe last year’s Tatum-less Celtics?
DARIO’S TEAMMATES: Mike James (RIP), Cam Payne, Kai Jones, Bruno Fernando, Eran Osmani, Jordan Loyd, and PJ Dozier, among others.
I’m learning. You’re learning, especially if you’re a Liscohead who’s following me and DarioWatch on this new journey. Dario himself is admittedly still learning, too:
“I definitely need some time to get used to it,” Dario told Meridian Sports in an interview earlier this month. “European basketball has changed a lot compared to my time. Back then, it was more about set plays and half-court basketball. Now the game is much faster, almost like the NBA. The point guards and shooting guards have more initiative in a way. I was expecting a slightly different game, but that’s no problem. I need to adapt as quickly as possible to be able to help the team.”
Has home changed?
Maybe the game is faster now. Maybe Dario is slower post-ACL tear and almost two decades into his professional career. Maybe he’s not that 22-year-old wunderkind with the world in his hands anymore (not even if we blink once, blink twice). Regardless, he’s averaging upwards of 25 minutes per game with Efes, and he seems to be handling his role well.
There’s been a lot of pressure on Dario since Mike James’ injury. James tore his Achilles towards the end of the game vs KK Crvena Zvezda earlier this month, making Dario the default first option. This is both great and terrifying for me, the Dario Šarić girl, who routinely analyzes how he’s walking in social media clips and goes oh god his knees are about to give out KILL ME NOW.
The game after James’ injury, versus Olympiacos, Dario put up just one point – a made free throw. He played only 18 minutes that night (Liscoheads, can you believe I’m saying ONLY?!?!?!). Maybe Efes head coach Pablo Laso saw he wasn’t playing well, or maybe he just really needed some rest. We know Dario gets in his head when his two-man partner gets hurt. We’ve seen it over and over again, as I wrote for Golden State of Mind when Chris Paul broke his hand early in 2024. Luckily, this time, it doesn’t seem to be affecting him too badly. He’ll always be streaky, but hopefully that was just a one-time thing where he went emo because his friend got hurt.
A dash of familiarity
The silver lining to James’ injury is that Efes brought in Dario’s longtime teammate and fellow ‘21 Sun Cam Payne, which just might have been the thing to get him back on track. Dario plays best when he knows he can trust his point guard, and who better to have by his side than the guy he has an adorable pregame handshake with? Either the Efes front office knows their Dario lore or they’ve been following Lisco_2000 and looked to my Dario teammate matrix for inspiration. Either way, this pickup was an incredible decision, and I’m excited to see this duo shine (and I’m excited to see their cute little handshake again).
OH MY GOD FRIENDSHIP WAS SEEN https://t.co/1qT4sXN43i
— lev (@lisco_2000) October 3, 2026
In Dario’s most recent bout, a loss versus Bayern Munich, he put up 21 points in 32 minutes, which is just about as efficient as it gets if your name isn’t Mike James. He played so much that Efes fans across the internet (who I immediately befriended when Dario signed back in June, by the way) were tweeting things that roughly translated to “I think he’s going to die out there” and portraying him as a “tired and weary kebab shop owner.”
dario saric https://t.co/AGISNxmq14
— Potanın Kedisi🏀🐱 (@potaninkedisi) October 14, 2026
My own tweet, comparing Dario to Peg, the 30-year Walmart employee who can barely smile, was a smash hit.
dario https://t.co/k9xJSv8i8w
— lev (@lisco_2000) October 14, 2026
“I just know he stormed back to the locker room, threw up, and is now on the team bus mad as hell,” I added after the game.
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A long road
We all know this isn’t sustainable, especially if it only leads to losses. I’ve reassured my newfound friends in the Efes fandom that Dario is actually quite durable and hasn’t run into much injury trouble since his ACL tear in 2021, but they still seem worried, and maybe it’s all just wishful thinking from me.
I still have a lot to learn about the Euroleague. I still don’t understand why Efes plays in two different leagues. I feel like there are so many games but also no games. The Efes mascot kind of freaks me out. I don’t understand how Matthew Strazel plays with that massive unsecured messy bun without getting overstimulated. I have no idea what is going on.
As I did in the NBA almost a decade ago, I guess I’ll learn the ropes with Dario as my guiding star.
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