Brandin Podziemski is in his second season with the Golden State Warriors after he was selected 19th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Podziemski has started and has come off the bench for the Warriors during his tenure in the Bay Area.
Recently, we caught up with Podziemski to discuss the favorite part of his NBA career to date, how he has adapted his game from college to the pros, the Warriors’ great start, and so much more.
(This interview was conducted last week.)
The Spun: Can you tell us about your partnership with Invisalign?
Brandin Podziemski: Yeah, I’ve been with them for about 10 weeks now. Obviously, worldwide they are the No. 1 doctor-recommended brand and over 18 million people use them. For me, I kinda gotta start with it because my teammate, Kevon Looney, is partnered with them. He kinda introduced me to them, everything he wished for his smile he kinda got done so for me I kinda just wanted to do the same thing and through these 10 weeks. I’ve been able to see progress each and every week, which has been really good to see. I’m excited to keep working with them.
The Spun: How would you say you have adapted your game from college to the pros since being drafted?
Podziemski: I think understanding what wins at this level. At some point, there has to be a realization and a click of what wins in college doesn’t win in the NBA because the game is so different. So for me, understanding what wins, understanding how I needed to change my body to be able to play in the NBA, and being able to play 82 games, and learning that, skills aside, yeah you gotta get better but I think for people, especially young guys, the mental part about understanding how to play a role and what wins in the NBA is super crucial, especially just to get your foot in the door.
The Spun: Was there anything about the transfer process in college that surprised you?
Podziemski: For me, it was pretty seamless. Obviously, I’m super thankful that the NCAA changed the rule so that you could play right away after transferring and not having to sit out. That was definitely a blessing for me. But, it was pretty seamless. I was in the portal for only a few weeks. I had a bunch of schools that wanted to recruit me but Santa Clara stood out. They were the most consistent with it and seeing Jalen (Williams) being called through the draft process, being successful, and then being picked 12th by the Oklahoma City Thunder, it just made sense. There was buzz around the school. They were looking for someone to kinda fill that void and for them to reach out and want me to do so, it made me feel special, especially coming off a season where I didn’t play at Illinois.
The Spun: What’s been the favorite part of your NBA career to date?
Podziemski: My favorite part has been able to just play basketball and people call it work but it’s something that I love to do. Even if money wasn’t involved, I’d still do it because I love being out there and playing so to be able to call it my job and make a living off putting the ball in the basket is something that everybody as a kid dreams of but now being able to live it, you don’t take it for granted because you’re only as good as your body allows it to be. You put everything you can into your body and invest in yourself to be able to play the game for a long time.
The Spun: You guys are off to a great start this year, what would you say is the catalyst behind it?
Podziemski: I’d say pace, space, and defense. We’re playing faster, we’re getting more organized, we’re turning the ball over less. Defensively, it’s super black and white. We understand what our rotations look like, and what our coverages look like. Everything is super dumbed down so there’s no confusion amongst anyone out there. The game is played on offense and defense so if you turn the ball over, there’s no defense for turnovers and on the flip side, if you have to take the ball up the hoop every single time or you’re fouling on defense, now you have to play against a half-court set defense. No matter what team you are, it’s hard to score on a half court against a set defense every time so I think each side of the ball helps one another and I think the two games we’ve lost, we’ve turned the ball over a bunch of times. In the game we almost lost to Houston, we turned the ball over a bunch so when we keep our turnovers down and when we’re playing fast, I think it’s hard to beat us.
The Spun: I know you’ve done both throughout your career, but do you prefer starting or coming off the bench?
Podziemski: I just prefer finishing the game when it matters the most. When it’s two or three minutes left, that’s when I want to be out there. For me, I just want to be in when it’s time to win. I value myself as a winner and someone who cares about winning above all else and that’s when I want to be out there. Starting is cool, coming off the bench is cool but for me, I just want to be out there when it matters.
The Spun: What’s been it like getting to play with Steph Curry on a nightly basis?
Podziemski: You want to say that you’ve become accustomed to it but every so often, he does something that’s kinda crazy and things you don’t really expect from a human being, especially him. He’s shorter than me, I’m probably more athletic than him but his skill, attention to detail, and what he does it all kinda clicks to you and it’s like oh it makes sense why he’s able to do this or it makes sense why he’s making the shots in the Olympics that he did. All those kinds of things that you see but even last game (November 12 against the Dallas Mavericks), when he kinda took over and went on a 10-0 run himself to end the game, all those shots that he took are all things that I see him do all the time. Now it’s like there’s a defender in front of him and he’s already done it. To the human eye from afar, it looks like it’s crazy and how could anyone ever do it but for us, as teammates of his, you just see it every day and it makes sense.
The Spun: What do you plan to continue doing with Invisalign?
Podziemski: I’m on a 33-week process and I’m on week 10 of 33. So, I got 23 more weeks left so about five months and I think for me, what’s been really satisfying is seeing the progress even through the first 10 weeks. To see on this app we have, this diagram of what my smile is going to look like each week after it’s done with that week’s set of Invisalign aligners, I think it’s super cool because everything I wanted with my smile, they’re able to do with it by just wearing the aligners every week. Like I said, I couldn’t be more thankful to be part of them.
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Podziemski has played in 13 games this season, averaging 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. The Warriors have won 11 of their first 14 games, good for the top spot in the Western Conference.
You can find the rest of our interviews here.
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