By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In his fourth season in the NBA, Santi Aldama has become an absolutely solid option coming off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies, living his best campaign statistics-wise thus far.
Interviewed by Hoopshype, he touched on several topics, including the latest coaching shift involving Taylor Jenkins and Tuomas Iisalo, with the Finnish tactician being named interim head coach.
“Super thankful for Taylor [Jenkins], everything he’s given me. But with Tuomas [Iisalo] now I feel like we get a little bit of a fresh start. He has great ideas. I’m kind of familiar with what he was doing back in Europe, and it was great stuff,” Aldama commented.
“[Being] able to talk basketball with somebody that knows it at a high level, and just enjoy – keep enjoying basketball, I guess. At the end of the day, basketball is basketball,” he added.
Since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, he has been putting up 12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game with Memphis, starting only 16 games.
“This is the way I like to play. I’m more used to what I used to do back home, just being more myself, engaging with the teammates. So it’s definitely been fun. And I think it’s only going to keep trending that way as I progress and get more experience. But it’s definitely been a nice jump to have.”
The Spanish forward also touched on playing for the national team, eyeing success at EuroBasket 2025. “Playing for your country is something that I don’t think you can really match with anything. Playing basketball for your country is something I have yet to find the words to describe,” he started.
“Having more of that leadership type role, even though I’m pretty young, it’s just putting me in a position to be better and just find ways in which I can translate it here and then translate the NBA basketball there, and just find ways to win. I’m more about winning, and anything that gets in the way of that, I’m not interested in. So I’m just trying to find ways to win.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images