Getty Juancho Hernangomez, formerly of the Boston Celtics.
After the Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors to take a 1-0 lead in the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics got a shoutout from a familiar face – former teammate Juancho Hernangomez. The former Celtic seemingly praised the team for not backing down when the Warriors led for most of the game.
Wow, never back down 🍀
This put off some fans since Hernangomez did not speak too kindly about his time with the team not too long before tweeting this out (more on this later). Some fans responded to his tweet by calling him out for what he had said earlier.
Others chastised him by pointing out that the Celtics started playing better after they had traded him to the San Antonio Spurs on January 19, 2022.
@juanchiviris41 Yea. Thank god Celtics started thriving after u left… kind of like how the Jazz went to shit when u came there
Ur a loser. Consider yourself blessed u even got any run with a team like Boston
Other Celtics fans responded by saying that, if the Celtics win the 2022 NBA Championship, Juancho should get a ring because he was technically on the team during their run.
@juanchiviris41 @twolveswave Juancho gonna get a ring🔥🔥🔥
The response from Celtics fans was harsh, but it made sense that they would respond that way after what Hernangomez had said earlier about his time in Boston.
Hernangomez Criticized Boston For Having ‘Too Many Egos’
On May 26, 2022, Hernangomez went on NBA en Movistar Plus+ to reflect on his time with the team. Hernangomez did not speak positively of the experience, saying that the team had “selfish players” and “too many egos.”
“Venía de Boston que a nivel de equipo eran jugadores un poco egoístas, había ego entre ellos. Después con 7 jugadores de cambio han sabido como jugar y juegan muy bien con 7/8. El problema era ese, que fuera de la pista no se hacía equipo”.
@juanchiviris41 en #GeneraciónNBA.
According to El Paise English Edition, he english translation of what he had said about his time with Celtics to NBA en Movistar Plus+ is as follows.
“I wasn’t happy there, it was very hard. There was no communication, I didn’t know what was expected of me. There were many super selfish players, no team building. I lost my love for basketball a bit.”
Hernangomez played in 18 out of a possible 45 games for the Celtics during his time there. In those 18 games, he averaged 1.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 5.3 minutes a game. He also shot 18.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from three. After playing five games for the Spurs, Hernangomez was traded to the Utah Jazz where his minutes and production went up. In 17 games with the Jazz, he averaged 6.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 0.8 assists in 17.5 minutes a game.
The Celtics were 23-22 in the last game Hernangomez was eligible to play for them, which was on January 17, 2022, against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Celtics finished the season at 51-31, which means they went 28-9 after they traded Hernangomez.
The numbers say that both sides benefited from their split.
Hernangomez Starred in Adam Sandler’s Newest Movie
Hernangomez is the latest professional basketball player to star alongside Adam Sandler in a movie titled Hustle in which Sandler’s character, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, is recruiting Hernangomez’s character, Bo Cruz, from Spain to play for the team.
This is not the first time Sandler has worked alongside a former Celtic in one of his movies, as he worked with Kevin Garnett three years earler in Uncut Gems. The only difference being that Garnett played a fictionalized version of himself while Hernangomez technically is not though he is playing a professional basketball player.
Hustle was released in select theaters on June 3, 2022 and will be released on Netflix on June 8, 2022.