December 17, 2025 • 19 mins
At just 19 years old, Hugo Gonzalez has made the leap from the Euroleague to the NBA look easy. He explains how signing into the Real Madrid basketball program in Spain at nine years old, and growing up in the Euroleague world, helped to develop him beyond his years. Gonzalez also explains the similarities and differences between Euroleague ball and NBA ball, as well as the challenges of his move to the league. We also learn of the impact Hugo’s parents, who were both professional players overseas, had on him growing up, and how they led him through the process of growing up in the Real Madrid program. Last but not least, Hugo comments on the legend of Luka Doncic, who also played for Real Madrid and faced the Celtics in a preseason game back in 2015.
00:24: On joining Real Madrid at 9 years old
04:25: On being teammates and roommates with Egor Emin, of the Brooklyn Nets, with Real Madrid
05:28: Similarities between the Boston Celtics and Real Madrid
06:25: Describing Euroleague basketball as the most tactical basketball in the world
11:15: What else is in his offensive bag that we haven’t seen?
12:12: Which is a stronger feeling for Hugo: his love for winning, or his hate for losing?
13:15: How his parents, who both played professionally in Europe, helped to mold him growing up
15:00: How he chose his first agent
16:20: The legend of Luka Doncic within the Real Madrid program
00:24: On joining Real Madrid at 9 years old
04:25: On being teammates and roommates with Egor Emin, of the Brooklyn Nets, with Real Madrid
05:28: Similarities between the Boston Celtics and Real Madrid
06:25: Describing Euroleague basketball as the most tactical basketball in the world
11:15: What else is in his offensive bag that we haven’t seen?
12:12: Which is a stronger feeling for Hugo: his love for winning, or his hate for losing?
13:15: How his parents, who both played professionally in Europe, helped to mold him growing up
15:00: How he chose his first agent
16:20: The legend of Luka Doncic within the Real Madrid program
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
All right, the nineteen year old rookie Ugo Gondalen.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Did I do that pretty well? It is not Hugo Gonzalez.
It is Ugo first and foremost. So make sure you
get it right out there, fans. Right, fair enough, fair enough,
we'll take that.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We'll take that. Ugo.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Your your story is so interesting to me because your
route to the NBA is so much different than pretty
much everyone else on the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
You join Real Madrid at nine years old.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And we touched on this at media day, but can
you kind of just tell us what that experience is like,
do they recruit you? How does that whole thing come
about for you joining that program at such a young age.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, so I think that, first of all, I think
that they do a really good job off Like they
walk around primarily when we're die young, like ten years old.
They just go around the like the basketball courts to
see the young guys like me that were playing for hometown,
like in my case, a town of seven thousand people
(01:12):
and I was playing basketball right there, and they do
rate like they do right things to recruit, so they
recruit you, and then after that it starts getting like
so you know, one year you get there and then
maybe you're out and they bring somebody new if they
think that they're not interesting. No no, like no more
(01:37):
time on on investing on yours.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
It's kind of like a tryout early on.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I mean, it's always like you gotta perform well because
if not, the academy is gonna it's gonna get you out.
It's not like I'm paying for playing there. It's just
like I'm I'm playing there because they consider that I
can be something good in the future. So they basically
starts getting like with the Madrid guys, Yeah, initially, then
(02:03):
they maybe go when you're getting older, like twelve thirteen
years old, you're competing for a spot against everyone in Spain.
And then when things start getting advanced, like fourteen fifteen,
they started getting recruited people with Europe. Most of the
guys like that are being really good in other teams.
(02:23):
They get recruited a lot of times for Real Madrid
as an opportunity, and sometimes like people like from from America,
like Rise Robinson that is right now in Real Madrid
his hiss from the United States. So basically you're competing
against everybody from the spot right there.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
So you got to you gotta work hard.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So it sounds like you're accustomed to pressure kind of
being on your shoulders because you've had to perform at
a certain level to keep your spot really since you
were nine.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
This is kind of what it sounds like. Is that
is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I mean, it's sounds a little bit hard with ninety
years old, but I feel like, yeah, that's that's it.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I know I wouldn't have been able to handle that.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Was it a boarding school? Like did you go to
live on a campus or something that young? Or were
able to live at home and then just train Now, So.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
In my case, probably if I was living somewhere else
of Madrid, I need to go to like the camp
they got there, they got really good residence.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I've been living there for two years.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
But when I was when I was young, like from
ten years old until sixteen, I was living at my house,
you know, because I was living thirty minutes away from
the facility. So it's no need to live there if
you don't want even though if they don't think that
that well, if they don't think or they don't want
(03:47):
you to live in the campus, you probably won't be there,
you know. So so basically I got lucky that they
invested and they believed in me a lot, so they
bring me to the camp for two years I got
I went to school there and everything, So yeah, that
was facilitating me a lot of things with for example,
(04:08):
if we need to work out in the morning, so
I got facility to then go to the school blah
blah blah.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You know, so in that case, that was cool.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
What are their focuses in development? Because both you and
then I got a chance to speak with Yegor Geoman,
who was your roommate for your last season at Real
Madrid now playing with the Nets, but both of you
have come in and just look NBA ready, this jump
to the next level. Doesn't seem like you're making it
look easy. I know it's not, but you're making it
look easy. How has Real Madrid prepared you for this?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I mean they taken They taken basically you or they
expect you to be in the highest standard they got basically.
So you know, we've been sharing with two years in
a room, we've been three years together. It's a great
friend of mine, really really high before everything. He's living
(05:02):
right now. I know he's he's really happy where he
is and he has got uh he was happy being
in by U and everything. It was hard for me
because we wanted to do a lot of things in Madrid,
you know, like winning.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Thirtain.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We got some objectives to to do together. Uh So
maybe maybe a one future it will be it will
be it.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Do you see similarities between Real Madrid because you won
multiple championships in your time with them, that standard and
that expectation of playing for championships. Do you kind of
see some of that and feel that here in Boston
with the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Right, So basically.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
For us in Madrid, it's like, honestly, for me never
in one season, I never won any certain kind of championship,
you know, like always a league. We play three four
trophies a year, so at least I won one. So
I'm basically like you try to figure out, like always
being competitive and always trying to win here is basically
(06:07):
the same, Like they always want to win, their high standard,
really really competitive, so it smart as the same.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Not perfectly, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We're glad that you brought that kind of standard over
here to the Celtics. But I'm curious because a lot
of our fans probably don't get a chance to watch
the euro League and watch teams over there. Explain that
game to us, like, like, how does it maybe differ
a little bit from what your experience has been here
with the NBA. What is different? And how would you
describe the euro League game?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So the year League game is the most the most
mental tactical basketball game isn't all over.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
In the world. Interesting? You know what makes me say.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That there's a lot of systems that you're gonna know,
there's a lot of tendencies that you're gonna know. And
even though like here you can guard tendencies there, you
need to got tendencies too. But maybe sometimes like like
heroes like I'll I'll say the same, like you can
get score even though you're guarding what you They need
(07:15):
to shoot, they want to shoot, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So basically I think that it's a.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
High high pressure of like mental, physically be great, not
mentally tactically great. So physical physical here is is more difficult.
You know, three four five games a week. Here is
way more physical physical players the best physical players in
the world. But the tactical mental game there, it's it's
(07:46):
the most I've never experienced.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
That's very interesting that you say that, and Abby, I'm
sure you feel the same way. But like you, we
can see that with you out on the court, that
like you, you think the game at an at an
advanced rate compared to like a nineteen year old in
the US coming out of college. So we can I
can see that translating here already into the NBA. I'm curious,
what's been the biggest challenge of switching from that game
(08:11):
in the euro League and coming over here to the NBA.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
What what have you found to be most challenging.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, so, it's it's a lot of uh new rules,
you know, Like for example, I remember my probably one
of my first practices, I was standing like six seven
seconds and on his own because I was I was
protected in the basket, you know, like you you can
do that and you're supposed to go three seconds.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
So a hard habit to break.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yeah, Like there, like get the fuck out there.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I'm sure Joe said that to you, right, get out there,
Like what are you doing? You know, there is a
lot of rules that you need to figure out. Then
I'm glad I never did it. In my mind, it's
always like you can swoop the ball out of the
rim and you can't do it. Oh yeah, and if
you sweep the ball out of the rim, you're counted
two points. So I better never do it and on
a game because if not that that's gonna piss us off,
(09:01):
I mean me and the team. Uh, you know those
type of things that you used to doing in Europe,
and like, here are different rules. So you gotta adapt
and you gotta put them. While a high level of
dopamine and adrenaline is going in the game, you need
to still think about that, like you can't do this,
you need to do this, Like this is a rule
that you need to you need to go you know,
(09:23):
different types of how do you defend more physically or less?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
So I want that rule to change here in the NBA.
By the way, I hope it does during your career
here that you can knock it out of the basket.
I want that to be an NBA rule that will
be good during your career.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm gonna put out a petition.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I'm okay without the flopping.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, that too out of it. I film here one, put.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
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Speaker 5 (10:41):
Jegor also told me that there was a much bigger
offensive load put on you on those real Madrid teams.
Is there something like do you feel like we've seen
even part of the bag that you have here in
the NBA and with the Celtics. Yegor what he said, gentlemen,
that the real Madrid teams asked a lot more of
you offensively put the ball in your hands.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
He seemed like you don't believe it. Yeah, you don't
believe it.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I mean we were both playing a house standard. I'm
going to say that we got a really really good team.
We were really really good and I'm like, I really
missed them those days so much, Like I really loved it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
I mean, here was my point guard, so he was
the guy that it.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Was feeding the ball.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah. Yeah, he got me in great positions. I'll try
to get him in the best person also, like I
feel like we always try to to feed each other
and to help each other and to help the team,
like just doing the great things, the things that I know.
I mean, I know what he can do better, and
(11:46):
his best right now is going to be a disadvantage
for him because now we're playing each other. But when
we were playing together, it was really good because I
know exactly where what he wants and how he wants
some certain things.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
So I just feel like, obviously defense is the focus
for you. That's how you're getting on the floor and
you're guarding the opposition's best player night in and night out.
But offensively we've seen flashes of things that you can
do do Is there a lot more.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
In your game?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
We'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
We'll have to wait and see.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
That's all I gotta say, Like, we'll figure it out.
You know, there's some things more important that what I
got where I don't got on my bag, you know. Yeah,
there are things like sacrifice, playing at a high stun
nerd no, those every type of things that goes above
what I can do with both of my hands. Honestly,
(12:39):
we've got some of the best ball handlers in the
whole league.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So right now, it's not what is required.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Obviously, if they asked me to do it, I'll be
more than happy to do it. I'm more than I'm
prepared to do it. But it's not the moment right now.
But like I said, like anytime they ask me to
do it, I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
You're willing to do whatever it takes to win, right
You're You're willing to accept the role, even if it's
not taking fifteen twenty shots a game. That's That's the
thing that I've noticed about you. Immediately, you just want
to win. You'll do whatever the coaching staff asks.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean, I'll ask you a question. M hm,
mean to you or you both?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I love this, reverse it all? Yes, what do you
like more?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You like more to win or you hate the most
losing winning?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I love winning winning, I love what you hate losing
the most. And I know what you're gonna say, Yeah,
I hate losing, and that's why you're willing to do
whatever it takes to come out on the other side
of that, right, Yeah, it's I love seeing that early
on in your career. Quick quick note from our our sponsor,
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(13:47):
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h Ugo. Another interesting thing about your upbringing is that
both of your parents were very good at the game
of basketball. Right they both played professionally over in Europe.
I'm curious how they're What was their impact on you
(14:08):
growing up compared to you know, you're in the program
with Real Madrid, but you've also got your parents at
home who can teach you quite a bit about basketball
as well.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, I think that they had been they had been
a really good influence for me. You know, it's not
always it's not always in every case good to have
parents that played basketball, so they are really really high
expectations on you. I'm really glad that I got my
mom and my dad. They helped me in a passive way.
(14:39):
They they allowed me to make my mistakes, to make
my own path, my own way, you know, and really
don't like, don't expect nothing about me because you know,
like you entered th realm do with ten, but.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
You're a kid, Like you're a kid, literally a kid.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I don't even remember I like when I was nine
or ten years old.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
What can't you expect?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Obviously, they got they tried to push me to a
high standard like everybody in my life, but they helped
me more like with my first decisions, Like obviously it
wasn't a really hard decision to say I want to
play for real.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It wasn't hard, like where do I sign?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
A hard decision, but they took it for me that
in that time are my first agents are the ones
that I work with right now because we've got a
really great relationship. They picked them because you know how
you don't know how to speak an agent with thirteen
years old?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
See, those are these are the things that like we
don't for us not knowing your upbringing of a little
thing like that of like how did you choose your
first agent?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, your parents were there to help you out with that.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
That's it's just so interesting because we're not we're not
touching agents when we're nine or ten years old here
in the US.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Like those type of things that you know, you can't choose,
and probably if you choose it, you're gonna go wrong
or you're gonna think, yeah, this is the one that
I want because he's giving more a part of Nikes today.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
As a kid, that's.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
All you're gonna think. That was what I was thinking.
They told me, like you want to go here, you're
going to take this way. Obviously I made a lot
of mistakes, like a lot, a lot of mistakes, and
whoever has followed my under eighteen career in Madrid, they
know that I made a lot of mistakes, a lot
of I mean, you can search a lot of mistakes
(16:29):
and they've been on my side. But also letting me
know that this is not the thing that you're supposed
to do, like this is not good and this goes
far away from basketball.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
This is you as a person too.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
So yeah, they helped me a lot.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
And they're here now with you in Boston, right yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Right now, My mom and my brother are here with me,
so they help.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
How nice is that? And have have they enjoyed it?
Are you liking Boston?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:55):
They like Boston. I mean, Boston is really cool city.
And also it's pretty similar to Madrid more or less.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
So right, I got one more question before we wrap up,
and this is because I had a little bit of experience.
I went over to Spain when the Celtics went over
there a decade ago, playing in Madrid against Real Madrid,
and guests who was on the court during that game,
Luka Doncic, and we had heard about this name of
this fifteen or sixteen year old phenom over there. He
(17:23):
didn't play great against us because it was a fifteen
or sixteen year old against the Boston Celtics. But I'm
curious what is kind of like the legend over in
Spain and with the Real Madrid program of Luka Doncic
and how he came up and what he's turned into
over here in the NBA.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I mean for everybody in real Madrid academy when you're
growing up, or like for everybody that plays basketball all
over Europe on the eighteen probably his I mean for
us in Madrid specifically, he's just a legend like his
what you would like to be in a perfect world.
(18:00):
You can't even imagine what he's doing right now. He
just represents like every single guy that works in the
academy works to be like Luca, to follow.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
His way, you know, so basically a role model to follow.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Do you have a relationship with him at all?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
I mean he's calmed to a to some of games.
We've talked someone as at some point. Not a relationship,
but he he has been impression and I've been talking
with him sometime.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, I have to tell you that whenever you play him,
especially given the team that he plays for now, you
must beat him. Okay, you cannot allow him and the
Lakers to beat us. Okay, that's not allowed.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
All right, Ugo.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
We appreciate the time, Man's it's great to hear your upbringings.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
It's just so unique to us in the US.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
We just don't really have a grasp on it, so
thank you for opening up and talking to us about
it and good luck. The rest of the season has
been a lot of fun watching you play.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Thank you guys, thank you than
All right, the nineteen year old rookie Ugo Gondalen.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Did I do that pretty well? It is not Hugo Gonzalez.
It is Ugo first and foremost. So make sure you
get it right out there, fans. Right, fair enough, fair enough,
we'll take that.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We'll take that. Ugo.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Your your story is so interesting to me because your
route to the NBA is so much different than pretty
much everyone else on the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
You join Real Madrid at nine years old.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And we touched on this at media day, but can
you kind of just tell us what that experience is like,
do they recruit you? How does that whole thing come
about for you joining that program at such a young age.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, so I think that, first of all, I think
that they do a really good job off Like they
walk around primarily when we're die young, like ten years old.
They just go around the like the basketball courts to
see the young guys like me that were playing for hometown,
like in my case, a town of seven thousand people
(01:12):
and I was playing basketball right there, and they do
rate like they do right things to recruit, so they
recruit you, and then after that it starts getting like
so you know, one year you get there and then
maybe you're out and they bring somebody new if they
think that they're not interesting. No no, like no more
(01:37):
time on on investing on yours.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
It's kind of like a tryout early on.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I mean, it's always like you gotta perform well because
if not, the academy is gonna it's gonna get you out.
It's not like I'm paying for playing there. It's just
like I'm I'm playing there because they consider that I
can be something good in the future. So they basically
starts getting like with the Madrid guys, Yeah, initially, then
(02:03):
they maybe go when you're getting older, like twelve thirteen
years old, you're competing for a spot against everyone in Spain.
And then when things start getting advanced, like fourteen fifteen,
they started getting recruited people with Europe. Most of the
guys like that are being really good in other teams.
(02:23):
They get recruited a lot of times for Real Madrid
as an opportunity, and sometimes like people like from from America,
like Rise Robinson that is right now in Real Madrid
his hiss from the United States. So basically you're competing
against everybody from the spot right there.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
So you got to you gotta work hard.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So it sounds like you're accustomed to pressure kind of
being on your shoulders because you've had to perform at
a certain level to keep your spot really since you
were nine.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
This is kind of what it sounds like. Is that
is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I mean, it's sounds a little bit hard with ninety
years old, but I feel like, yeah, that's that's it.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I know I wouldn't have been able to handle that.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Was it a boarding school? Like did you go to
live on a campus or something that young? Or were
able to live at home and then just train Now, So.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
In my case, probably if I was living somewhere else
of Madrid, I need to go to like the camp
they got there, they got really good residence.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I've been living there for two years.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
But when I was when I was young, like from
ten years old until sixteen, I was living at my house,
you know, because I was living thirty minutes away from
the facility. So it's no need to live there if
you don't want even though if they don't think that
that well, if they don't think or they don't want
(03:47):
you to live in the campus, you probably won't be there,
you know. So so basically I got lucky that they
invested and they believed in me a lot, so they
bring me to the camp for two years I got
I went to school there and everything, So yeah, that
was facilitating me a lot of things with for example,
(04:08):
if we need to work out in the morning, so
I got facility to then go to the school blah
blah blah.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You know, so in that case, that was cool.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
What are their focuses in development? Because both you and
then I got a chance to speak with Yegor Geoman,
who was your roommate for your last season at Real
Madrid now playing with the Nets, but both of you
have come in and just look NBA ready, this jump
to the next level. Doesn't seem like you're making it
look easy. I know it's not, but you're making it
look easy. How has Real Madrid prepared you for this?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I mean they taken They taken basically you or they
expect you to be in the highest standard they got basically.
So you know, we've been sharing with two years in
a room, we've been three years together. It's a great
friend of mine, really really high before everything. He's living
(05:02):
right now. I know he's he's really happy where he
is and he has got uh he was happy being
in by U and everything. It was hard for me
because we wanted to do a lot of things in Madrid,
you know, like winning.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Thirtain.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We got some objectives to to do together. Uh So
maybe maybe a one future it will be it will
be it.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Do you see similarities between Real Madrid because you won
multiple championships in your time with them, that standard and
that expectation of playing for championships. Do you kind of
see some of that and feel that here in Boston
with the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Right, So basically.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
For us in Madrid, it's like, honestly, for me never
in one season, I never won any certain kind of championship,
you know, like always a league. We play three four
trophies a year, so at least I won one. So
I'm basically like you try to figure out, like always
being competitive and always trying to win here is basically
(06:07):
the same, Like they always want to win, their high standard,
really really competitive, so it smart as the same.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Not perfectly, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We're glad that you brought that kind of standard over
here to the Celtics. But I'm curious because a lot
of our fans probably don't get a chance to watch
the euro League and watch teams over there. Explain that
game to us, like, like, how does it maybe differ
a little bit from what your experience has been here
with the NBA. What is different? And how would you
describe the euro League game?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So the year League game is the most the most
mental tactical basketball game isn't all over.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
In the world. Interesting? You know what makes me say.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That there's a lot of systems that you're gonna know,
there's a lot of tendencies that you're gonna know. And
even though like here you can guard tendencies there, you
need to got tendencies too. But maybe sometimes like like
heroes like I'll I'll say the same, like you can
get score even though you're guarding what you They need
(07:15):
to shoot, they want to shoot, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So basically I think that it's a.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
High high pressure of like mental, physically be great, not
mentally tactically great. So physical physical here is is more difficult.
You know, three four five games a week. Here is
way more physical physical players the best physical players in
the world. But the tactical mental game there, it's it's
(07:46):
the most I've never experienced.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
That's very interesting that you say that, and Abby, I'm
sure you feel the same way. But like you, we
can see that with you out on the court, that
like you, you think the game at an at an
advanced rate compared to like a nineteen year old in
the US coming out of college. So we can I
can see that translating here already into the NBA. I'm curious,
what's been the biggest challenge of switching from that game
(08:11):
in the euro League and coming over here to the NBA.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
What what have you found to be most challenging.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, so, it's it's a lot of uh new rules,
you know, Like for example, I remember my probably one
of my first practices, I was standing like six seven
seconds and on his own because I was I was
protected in the basket, you know, like you you can
do that and you're supposed to go three seconds.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
So a hard habit to break.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yeah, Like there, like get the fuck out there.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I'm sure Joe said that to you, right, get out there,
Like what are you doing? You know, there is a
lot of rules that you need to figure out. Then
I'm glad I never did it. In my mind, it's
always like you can swoop the ball out of the
rim and you can't do it. Oh yeah, and if
you sweep the ball out of the rim, you're counted
two points. So I better never do it and on
a game because if not that that's gonna piss us off,
(09:01):
I mean me and the team. Uh, you know those
type of things that you used to doing in Europe,
and like, here are different rules. So you gotta adapt
and you gotta put them. While a high level of
dopamine and adrenaline is going in the game, you need
to still think about that, like you can't do this,
you need to do this, Like this is a rule
that you need to you need to go you know,
(09:23):
different types of how do you defend more physically or less?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
So I want that rule to change here in the NBA.
By the way, I hope it does during your career
here that you can knock it out of the basket.
I want that to be an NBA rule that will
be good during your career.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm gonna put out a petition.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I'm okay without the flopping.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, that too out of it. I film here one, put.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
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Speaker 5 (10:41):
Jegor also told me that there was a much bigger
offensive load put on you on those real Madrid teams.
Is there something like do you feel like we've seen
even part of the bag that you have here in
the NBA and with the Celtics. Yegor what he said, gentlemen,
that the real Madrid teams asked a lot more of
you offensively put the ball in your hands.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
He seemed like you don't believe it. Yeah, you don't
believe it.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I mean we were both playing a house standard. I'm
going to say that we got a really really good team.
We were really really good and I'm like, I really
missed them those days so much, Like I really loved it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
I mean, here was my point guard, so he was
the guy that it.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Was feeding the ball.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah. Yeah, he got me in great positions. I'll try
to get him in the best person also, like I
feel like we always try to to feed each other
and to help each other and to help the team,
like just doing the great things, the things that I know.
I mean, I know what he can do better, and
(11:46):
his best right now is going to be a disadvantage
for him because now we're playing each other. But when
we were playing together, it was really good because I
know exactly where what he wants and how he wants
some certain things.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
So I just feel like, obviously defense is the focus
for you. That's how you're getting on the floor and
you're guarding the opposition's best player night in and night out.
But offensively we've seen flashes of things that you can
do do Is there a lot more.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
In your game?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
We'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
We'll have to wait and see.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
That's all I gotta say, Like, we'll figure it out.
You know, there's some things more important that what I
got where I don't got on my bag, you know. Yeah,
there are things like sacrifice, playing at a high stun
nerd no, those every type of things that goes above
what I can do with both of my hands. Honestly,
(12:39):
we've got some of the best ball handlers in the
whole league.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So right now, it's not what is required.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Obviously, if they asked me to do it, I'll be
more than happy to do it. I'm more than I'm
prepared to do it. But it's not the moment right now.
But like I said, like anytime they ask me to
do it, I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
You're willing to do whatever it takes to win, right
You're You're willing to accept the role, even if it's
not taking fifteen twenty shots a game. That's That's the
thing that I've noticed about you. Immediately, you just want
to win. You'll do whatever the coaching staff asks.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean, I'll ask you a question. M hm,
mean to you or you both?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I love this, reverse it all? Yes, what do you
like more?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You like more to win or you hate the most
losing winning?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I love winning winning, I love what you hate losing
the most. And I know what you're gonna say, Yeah,
I hate losing, and that's why you're willing to do
whatever it takes to come out on the other side
of that, right, Yeah, it's I love seeing that early
on in your career. Quick quick note from our our sponsor,
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(13:47):
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h Ugo. Another interesting thing about your upbringing is that
both of your parents were very good at the game
of basketball. Right they both played professionally over in Europe.
I'm curious how they're What was their impact on you
(14:08):
growing up compared to you know, you're in the program
with Real Madrid, but you've also got your parents at
home who can teach you quite a bit about basketball
as well.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, I think that they had been they had been
a really good influence for me. You know, it's not
always it's not always in every case good to have
parents that played basketball, so they are really really high
expectations on you. I'm really glad that I got my
mom and my dad. They helped me in a passive way.
(14:39):
They they allowed me to make my mistakes, to make
my own path, my own way, you know, and really
don't like, don't expect nothing about me because you know,
like you entered th realm do with ten, but.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
You're a kid, Like you're a kid, literally a kid.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I don't even remember I like when I was nine
or ten years old.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
What can't you expect?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Obviously, they got they tried to push me to a
high standard like everybody in my life, but they helped
me more like with my first decisions, Like obviously it
wasn't a really hard decision to say I want to
play for real.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It wasn't hard, like where do I sign?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
A hard decision, but they took it for me that
in that time are my first agents are the ones
that I work with right now because we've got a
really great relationship. They picked them because you know how
you don't know how to speak an agent with thirteen
years old?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
See, those are these are the things that like we
don't for us not knowing your upbringing of a little
thing like that of like how did you choose your
first agent?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, your parents were there to help you out with that.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
That's it's just so interesting because we're not we're not
touching agents when we're nine or ten years old here
in the US.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Like those type of things that you know, you can't choose,
and probably if you choose it, you're gonna go wrong
or you're gonna think, yeah, this is the one that
I want because he's giving more a part of Nikes today.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
As a kid, that's.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
All you're gonna think. That was what I was thinking.
They told me, like you want to go here, you're
going to take this way. Obviously I made a lot
of mistakes, like a lot, a lot of mistakes, and
whoever has followed my under eighteen career in Madrid, they
know that I made a lot of mistakes, a lot
of I mean, you can search a lot of mistakes
(16:29):
and they've been on my side. But also letting me
know that this is not the thing that you're supposed
to do, like this is not good and this goes
far away from basketball.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
This is you as a person too.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
So yeah, they helped me a lot.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
And they're here now with you in Boston, right yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Right now, My mom and my brother are here with me,
so they help.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
How nice is that? And have have they enjoyed it?
Are you liking Boston?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:55):
They like Boston. I mean, Boston is really cool city.
And also it's pretty similar to Madrid more or less.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
So right, I got one more question before we wrap up,
and this is because I had a little bit of experience.
I went over to Spain when the Celtics went over
there a decade ago, playing in Madrid against Real Madrid,
and guests who was on the court during that game,
Luka Doncic, and we had heard about this name of
this fifteen or sixteen year old phenom over there. He
(17:23):
didn't play great against us because it was a fifteen
or sixteen year old against the Boston Celtics. But I'm
curious what is kind of like the legend over in
Spain and with the Real Madrid program of Luka Doncic
and how he came up and what he's turned into
over here in the NBA.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I mean for everybody in real Madrid academy when you're
growing up, or like for everybody that plays basketball all
over Europe on the eighteen probably his I mean for
us in Madrid specifically, he's just a legend like his
what you would like to be in a perfect world.
(18:00):
You can't even imagine what he's doing right now. He
just represents like every single guy that works in the
academy works to be like Luca, to follow.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
His way, you know, so basically a role model to follow.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Do you have a relationship with him at all?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
I mean he's calmed to a to some of games.
We've talked someone as at some point. Not a relationship,
but he he has been impression and I've been talking
with him sometime.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, I have to tell you that whenever you play him,
especially given the team that he plays for now, you
must beat him. Okay, you cannot allow him and the
Lakers to beat us. Okay, that's not allowed.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
All right, Ugo.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
We appreciate the time, Man's it's great to hear your upbringings.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
It's just so unique to us in the US.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
We just don't really have a grasp on it, so
thank you for opening up and talking to us about
it and good luck. The rest of the season has
been a lot of fun watching you play.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Thank you guys, thank you than
Host
Marc D'Amico
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