“What did you want to be when you were little?” a child asks Usman Garuba at the Santiago Apóstol Cabanyal School in Valencia. The center of the Spanish national team, sitting in front of a children’s audience at a Kellogg’s Social Basketball Campus event, answers honestly: “A soccer player. I didn’t like basketball. I didn’t want to play this. I was obsessed with soccer, but there were no places on the team… and they signed me up for basketball. I was nine years old.”
Usman Garuba is bursting with energy. The children are impressed by a 22-year-old man, 2.03m tall, weighing 112 kilos and wearing a size 51 shoe. The fun questions continue: “How many goals have you scored? Are you a millionaire? Can you read?” And then they participate in a little game on a court in the street with the international player, who is taking a break from the pre-Olympic tournament in Valencia, where the national team is seeking a place in the Paris Games. Garuba laughs among the boys and girls, enjoying himself. “Many things from when I was little remain in me, the excitement, the values, the commitment, the sacrifice… Those who know me know this. I hope it will always be like this. I hope to stay in childhood all my life, but you have to mature…”, Garuba later tells Morning Express.
The young man who grew up in Azuqueca de Henares, 50 kilometres from Madrid, is now looking at his future. After two seasons and 99 games with the Houston Rockets and a final season with a dual contract with Golden State, he is back at the crossroads. His dream is to continue in the NBA, but last season he alternated with the Warriors’ reserve team with very few appearances with the first team: only 18 minutes spread over six games for a total of three points and seven rebounds in the entire campaign. These meager numbers are joined by a certain misgiving in the US about his figure: he is not tall enough to be a five and an outside shot to play as a four. The door to Madrid, where he was trained, remains open to reinforce the inside game after the departure of Poirier, along with Tavares and the possible incorporation of Serge Ibaka.
Destiny is his middle name, of Christian origin. That’s what his mother, Betty, calls him. For his father, Mustapha, he’s Usman, a Muslim. “Destiny? It’s not written, you have to work for it. You have to work for everything yourself, fight day by day. I say it many times. The more I fight, the more things I achieve. Luck is not a coincidence,” says Garuba about his future; “I believe a lot in myself, maybe too much. I’ve always been like that since I was little and I don’t think I’ll change. And if I do, I won’t be myself. I know what I can do. Everyone has their strengths. I believe in myself too much. When I’m on the field, I feel that I’m the best and that I’m going to fight for everything. It’s important for me to have that confidence. That’s the key. I learned it in the United States. If you don’t trust yourself, no one will. Before I used more psychological help, now less. Over the years I have too much confidence in myself. I say too much instead of a lot because it’s true, it’s too much.”
That faith already made him anticipate that Spain would win gold at the Eurobasket in 2022, an unthinkable success. The national team was surprised by the daring of Garuba, the man who, during the title celebrations, baptized Lorenzo Brown as Lorenzo de Albacete. On the court, Scariolo appreciates his struggle for defense and for fighting for every ball as if it were his last. And in this pre-Olympic tournament he is seen to be more refined. “I am better than ever. In my first two years in the NBA I focused on getting stronger and this year I spoke with my team about how to change my physique. Between January and February I was stopped for a month working only physically,” says Garuba.
The children at school give him a drawing with a message: “May your fighting spirit take you to the top of the podium.” The Spanish pivot smiles. He is overly confident in himself.
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