The Boston Celtics selected Hugo Gonzalez with the No. 28 pick of the NBA Draft. Brad Stevens delivered the good news to the Spanish prospect.
On Thursday morning, the Celtics shared a video of Stevens calling Gonzalez on draft night. Boston’s president of basketball operations welcomed the 18-year-old wing to the organization.
“We’re really excited about you, and obviously we’ve watched you play for a long time,” Stevens told Gonzalez. “In addition to that, I think one of the things that stood out crystal clear in our interviews … was your humility and your willingness to really do everything you can to help the team win.”
Stevens appeared to confirm that the Celtics plan to bring Gonzalez to the NBA immediately rather than stashing him overseas next season.
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“We’re excited to get you to Boston ASAP,” Stevens said.
Following the selection, Stevens told reporters that he’s “a big fan” of how Gonzalez plays.
“He’s tough, he’s hard-playing, he cuts, he goes after the ball, he competes,” Stevens said. “He’s got all the intangibles of a winning basketball player. There’s things he can get better at, just like everybody else at that age, but competitiveness is at a high level.”
Via NBA.com’s Taylor Snow, Stevens called Gonzalez an “old soul” after years of professional experience with Real Madrid.
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“He’s played with adults for a long time,” Stevens noted. “He’s playing on a team full of experienced former NBA players and high, high-level pros all from all over the world. So this guy has been around it at a high level, been coached really well. I think when you talk about years overall, yes, he’s young, but years of basketball experience, the things that we will think are important.”
Although Gonzalez stayed up to hear his name called, it was around 5 a.m. in Spain when the Celtics picked him. Stevens recalled another part of the conversation not shown in the team’s video.
“I just talked to him,” Stevens told reporters around midnight ET. “I said, ‘Enjoy your night.’ He goes, ‘Eh, it’s a little late.’ So I said, ‘OK, maybe I’ll enjoy it for you.’”
