Willy Hernangómez Embraces New Stage at Barcelona After NBA Turmoil

Willy Hernangómez is living a new stage at Barcelona. The center left the NBA after a turbulent last season, in which he was not able to enjoy many minutes, and thus returned to the Old Continent to sign for the Barça club and not for Real Madrid, the team to which he belonged before making the leap to The best league of the world. A surprising decision that was a real bombshell and that the center explained in an interview with Basket News in which he does not shy away from any topic. In it, he not only comments on the decision to sign for Barça, he also talks about the whites’ refusal to take on his services, how he finds himself in his new destination and how tumultuous his last season was in the Pelicans.

“Real Madrid didn’t want me. I had my rights but chose not to match the offer, but Barcelona gave me the opportunity to be in a good place and in a good situation for me. Obviously I want to thank Madrid for giving me the opportunity to play, to grow, to learn and to start as a professional,” says the player. And he also says that he only played for two years in white and that he considered other places more his home: “I didn’t play much at Real Madrid. I feel most at home in New Orleans, where I lived almost three and a half years of my life. “I spent more time there than in any other city.”

The center also confesses about the difficulties in his last season in the NBA, where he barely had any opportunities. He played just 38 games (out of a possible 82), 2 of them as a starter, and 12 minutes per night, so his production only reached 6.9 points and 4.7 rebounds. His direct competition was an established player like Jonas Valanciunas, Zion Williamson spent a lot of time in the zone and not even injuries opened the door for him. Coach Willie Green did not count on him and he was not transferred in the February market. The absence of offers in the summer caused him to decide to return to Europe.

“I had a very hard year, last season in New Orleans I couldn’t play as much as I wanted after the Eurobasket we won with Spain (in which he was also chosen MVP). I didn’t play there and I didn’t expect it. I was looking for an opportunity to feel good, to be happy and Barcelona gave me that opportunity from the beginning,” he says. Willy, who has also been in charge of praising his coach in the Spanish National Team, Sergio Scariolo, says that Jan Vesely is his favorite teammate and he does not stop having good words for the Blaugranas.

“I signed this contract with Barcelona for 3 years, I hope I can be here for another 10 years because I feel at home. I feel like I gave the NBA everything I had. I was fighting for opportunities, I played with the best players in the world, the best owners, presidents like Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, so I can’t regret my career,” says the center, who also adds the recurring theme that it is more It is difficult to play in the Euroleague and he sentences his signing with Barça resoundingly. “My present and my immediate future is at Barça. “It’s where I want to be.” Clearer, water.

Follow the Diario AS channel on WhatsApp, where you will find all the sports keys of the day.

2023-12-12 15:23:04
#Willy #Madrid #didnt