Hard work and patience pay off for Willy Hernangomez

NEW YORK (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - The apples have not fallen far from the tree when it comes to Willy and Juancho Hernangomez.

Just as their father, Guillermo Hernangomez Heredero, and mother, Margarita "Wonny" Geuer Draeger, once played professional basketball, so do the sons.

New York Knicks big man Willy, who is 22 and 16 months older than Denver Nuggets forward Juancho, claimed medals with Spain at FIBA EuroBasket 2015 and the 2016 Olympics. He has spoken to FIBA.com.

FIBA.com: Your parents were professional basketball players. How have they influenced your career?
Hernangomez: Both my parents have been very important in my growth, both as a person and as a basketball player. They both played at a very high level so they have always given me a lot of advice about the game in a very constructive way. They played basketball in a period when it was very different from now, but they have always helped my brother and me improve our game.

FIBA.com: You and Juancho are NBA rookies. Do you stay in frequent contact?
Hernangomez: We lived together in Madrid (Juancho played for Estudiantes and Willy for Real Madrid) before I moved to Sevilla (in 2013) to play there for two seasons. I had to go there to keep improving and work on my game, and despite the distance, we kept in great contact, talking almost every day. He is my brother, but he is also one of my closest friends. We are both living our dream of being in the NBA, living a bit far away from each other, but we talk every day. We talk a lot about our respective seasons, the NBA way of life and we support each other no matter what’s going on. He came to New York for a game (against Brooklyn) with his team, and we were able to hang out and talk, which was great.

FIBA.com: You've already captured titles with Real Madrid, and a EuroBasket crown and Olympic bronze medal with Spain.
Hernangomez: I am still young and everything has been going very fast for me so far. I have won a couple of titles with Real Madrid, had success in the youth categories and had two interesting seasons in Sevilla, so I can't complain about my experience so far. That helped me grow and improve my game very fast. We almost won everything with Real Madrid. It's my fifth year as a professional and I have really enjoyed the process so far. All of this helped me a lot in order to achieve my dream to be in the NBA. I am a Knicks player now because of all of those steps that I took.

FIBA.com: Last year, your playing time with Real Madrid was a bit irregular. What did you learn from that experience?
Hernangomez: I had a lot of playing time in my previous seasons but last year was a bit different. But I tried to make the best of the season by working hard on aspects of my game to keep improving. I had a lot of individual practices and extra hours on my own at the gym. I kept working during those times when I had to also work on being patient, which is important for a young player. I was never down; I have always been a strong person mentally. You always learn from these kinds of experiences. We won a title, which was good, and I worked on being more patient. I enjoyed my time in Sevilla and Madrid and really learned a lot there during those seasons.

FIBA.com: How was the Rio Olympic experience for you?
Hernangomez: It was just amazing. I was so happy to be there and be part of the national team. It was good to learn, to be part of that great team and I had the opportunity to spend lot of minutes on the court in Rio. It's my third year with the national team and I gained so much confidence by playing for my country. I am looking forward to the next competition with my country. I would like to be called to play for Spain again soon and keep improving and gaining importance in the national team.

Hernangomez gained invaluable national team experience in Rio

FIBA.com: Well, the next competition is FIBA EuroBasket 2017 and Spain are in Group C with Montenegro, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. Those games will be played in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Care to make any predictions?
Hernangomez: A draw is a draw and you can't evaluate the teams now as it is too far away from the beginning of the tournament. Most of the players are still focused on their seasons with their teams and when the summer comes, we'll think about the national team duties. But we have a strong group of players, I believe in the talent of my teammates. If we keep working well, as we have been doing, we can keep achieving great things at EuroBasket. Going to the knockout round is the first step.

FIBA