Most San Antonio Spurs fans know Adam Hanga as simply the guy the team drafted last in the 2011 NBA Draft, and of course for his amazing
highlight worthy plays. And while some Spurs fans are clamoring for him to come to the NBA sooner than later, Hanga will be the first to admit he still feels he isn't ready to make the jump… yet.
In an interview with Taking The Charge, Adam opened up about being selected by the Spurs, how it was for him on draft night, how he thinks the Spurs discovered him and more.
Get to know more about Hanga including a message he has for Spurs fans who might still be wondering what kind of player, person and teammate he is.
Hanga on on training with Spurs this past summer and what he learned:
"You always have to work on your defense, on everything, your strengths. It was a great thing. It was my second time (in San Antonio) because after when I got drafted, after two days, I went there and just visit them and show up. The San Antonio coach (Gregg Popovich), he helped me a lot. I hope they will invite me again for the summer and I just want to go there and work hard. It's a good opportunity for me because they drafted me. So they followed me the whole season, and they follow my career, but I think I'm not ready yet for the NBA but that's why I am working everyday hard. In time I will be there."
Hanga on how he thinks the Spurs discovered him:
"I think they knew me before. I was kind of like a prospect at my age so I think they knew me before. They knew I did the Eurocamp two times so I think they saw me there. So probably that's why. The last time I went to the Eurocamp, I think I played really good and probably that's why."
Hanga on where he was when he got drafted:
"It was a funny situation. It was six in the morning in Hungary. It was late and we were waiting and I thought I wasn't going to get drafted. It was like two picks left and I was really tired, I was really sleepy. I just got the message because I had a teammate before in Hungary and he lives in San Antonio. So I got a message from him "Welcome to Texas." I was like "What is this?" and then my other agent in the States sent me another message saying I got drafted. I was really happy. It was amazing. In the morning i got a lot of messages. Everybody called me. It was really amazing. It is still amazing."
Hanga on the Spurs flare for drafting international players:
"Everybody knows about San Antonio, they like the European prospects. They drafted Manu (Ginobili), They drafted Tony (Parker), they drafted (Tiago) Splitter. All these guys, they were in Europe. My situation was a little bit different because I played in Hungary, I'm in no league. They like European prospects. When I was there (San Antonio), they asked me "Did you expect we were going to draft you?" and I was like "No." I was hoping but I didn't expect it. They were sure if I was available in the last, late draft picks, they were going to draft me. It was really nice."
Hanga's message to Spurs fans who still may not know who he is on the court:
"I think I am a good guy. I always put the team first. This is my point. I just want to help the team. If I can help the team with my defense, or rebounds or steals or blocks that's what I am going to do. First, I have always been a scorer, I just always been a scorer, just focused on offense. But when I got here in Spain, they told me it's not that. You have to play some defense too. So the first season was really hard for me because I just wanted to play offense, I just wanted to score. But now i think I have more experience. I try to help my team and that's who I am and do my best for my team."
Adam went on to state he is hoping to play for the Spurs Summer League team this summer and admits to be a huge video game player preferring to play sports games and basketball games such as the NBA 2k series. Of course when he does play NBA 2k12, he does play as the Spurs.
If anything to take away is how Adam knows he still needs time to bloom overseas before making the leap to the NBA. To me, that shows maturity on his part to know he wants to be at his best before making a huge leap.
It is a great interview and visit Taking the Charge to listen to the complete interview when Adam talks about the struggles of Spanish team Manresa, the state of Hungarian basketball and more.