Maurice Creek had only been in Mykolaiv for six weeks. It was dumb luck that he was there at all. He was replacing another American player on the Ukrainian SuperLeague team. The 31-year-old Creek was living the life of a professional basketball player abroad, going from team to team, country to country, year after year. He was originally going to play this season in China, but that deal fell through. In January, he got a call from a former coach of his on a team in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital; Mykolaiv, which had been struggling all season, needed a player. Creek needed a gig. Now, he was stuck there. He didn’t know any Ukrainian. Before the war began, he Google Translated with fans who chatted him up on the street. Now, he got his news about what was happening primarily from his family back in Maryland and his American teammates via group chat in Mykolaiv.