Interview: Izan Almansa Discusses G-League Ignite, NBA Goals and Youth Success

I had the opportunity to sit down with Izan Almansa, arguably the best youth player in basketball history and the latest member of the NBL Next Stars program. Here’s what he had to say:

I had the opportunity to sit down with Izan Almansa, arguably the best youth player in basketball history and the latest member of the NBL Next Stars program. Here’s what he had to say:

(00:00):

Welcome back to the Draftstack. My name is Nic Thomas. I'm joined today by Han the newest member of the Perth Wildcats, Izan Almansa. Thank you for joining me today.

(00:10):

Hello, happy to be here.

(00:12):

Yeah, so I just want to run through a bit of a promo for yourself, right? I mean, just talk through your past experiences, your goals to the year and beyond that of course.

(00:25):

Okay, sure.

(00:27):

So to start off, I just kind of want to learn more about you, right? You objectively have one of the most impressive youth resumes ever, and I always ask people I interview at what kind of point hit them that they can really do this professionally as a career, and usually their answers are like 17, 18 years old, but I imagine yours was probably far younger. Can you walk me through the moment that kind of hit you?

(00:54):

Can you repeat the question please?

(00:56):

At what kind of moment, at what age did you realize that you could do this professionally?

(01:02):

Oh, I dunno. I mean, I started playing when I was nine and I started playing for fun. Then at 14 I moved to Madrid to play for Madrid, and then I signed for overtime when I was 16. So maybe there I thought that I had a chance maybe, or maybe when I was 16 during the summer when we ended up second on the under 17 World Cup and I won MVP maybe there. [00:01:30] Yeah. But I don't know. I don't know. Maybe there. Right,

(01:34):

Right. I mean you past you so far, right? You've obviously just joined the MBL. What's your goal here in the MBL LI mean, one year from now? Where do you aim to be? I mean, I presume you're looking ahead to the 2025 draughts.

(01:49):

Yeah, that's my goal. I did the pre-draft for this year draught, so I got a lot of feedback from the teams. I know how the process is, I'm just going to use this season to work on what the teams told me to work on and just get better, get used to playing as old man fast pace and everything and just enjoy the process and then be ready to go for the 2025 and B, a draught.

(02:19):

Yeah, I mean, one of my questions was what you feel like you need to work on yourself. What was some of the feedback you received from teams that you needed to work on? I guess to reach that next level?

(02:30):

I mean, of course I need to add stronger and just improve my shooting. I mean, I almost improve everything. You can get better everything, but mostly get stronger, improve my shooting and also have high motor every time because I used to play with High Motor some games and not, I don't know why. So just keep a high motor every game, bring energy to the team, improve my shooting, my Fritos, and get stronger.

(02:57):

Right. So it was more so physical stuff. You spent most of your offseason, I guessing, in the weight room, in the gym rather than necessarily on the court?

(03:05):

Well, yeah, I did both. I focus on my strength. I'm gaining a strength, but also at the end of the day, I'm a basketball player, so I spent a lot of time on the court working on my shooting ball, hunting perimeter attack and everything just to be a more complete player.

(03:22):

Right. And that's always the goal, but I mean, let's say everything goes to plan, right, and 12 months from now you're on an NBA roster, you would've taken one of the most unique and intriguing route to the NBA we probably ever seen. I mean, you went from being one of the more decorated players in European youth basketball history to joining the Overtime Elite and then the Ignite, and now you're in Australia playing with the NBL Next Stars programme. Is that something that you think separates you from the pack of prospects in a positive way?

(03:54):

I mean, maybe yes, because during the last three years I have been in three different teams and during the last five years I haven't been to four, so I've travelled a lot, been in a lot of different situations, and being able to adapt to those situations every time in different countries, different languages from what I'm used to, I think that that's a big difference for me. Yeah,

(04:19):

Yeah. I mean, I can imagine it would affect your maturity, but in terms of a basketball sense, is there something that you think you've picked up on from that route that you maybe wouldn't have in a more traditional, say, straight out of college or straight out of Europe route to the NBA?

(04:36):

I mean, I think that compared with other MBA prospects without other college MBA prospects, I think that this is my second year playing pro. So I think that that's a big difference is not that I get to the MBA and it's my first year playing professional and everything, it's like now it's my second year, I'm getting used to it, and I think that that's another difference as well.

(05:00):

Right, right. I mean, I want to touch on your time with G League Ignite a little bit here. What was the vibe of that team?

(05:15):

Yeah. I mean, it was an interesting year. I mean, I learned a lot from playing in the G League from playing with against some NBA rookies, NBA bets and having some NBA players in the team too. And yeah, we started off good, but then, I mean, it was hard because at the end of the day we had a lot of young guys and it was our first year playing pro. We had a lot of travelling, a lot of injuries too. So I think that it was not how it was planned to be, but I don't regret my decision and I felt like being there has helped me a lot too.

(05:50):

Do you think that's what separates programs like the G-League Ignite and the NBL Next Stars? Because obviously with the next Stars you are integrated into teams with some other veteran players and you are able to learn from them. Do you feel like that’s part of the reason why the Next Stars program is still here, and the Ignite aren’t?

(06:13):

Yeah, I mean, maybe. I think I like the Next Stars program because there's just one Next Star per team, so the team has just one main focus for the NBA draught for anything, so they can spend a lot of time with you, teach you a lot, and also your teammates around what you're trying to achieve, so they're there to help. You have, on our team, for example, we have Jesse Wagstaff. He played a lot of time in the NBL and everything, so he knows a lot about basketball. Dylan Windler played in the NBA. So I think that Next Star program is so good because there's just one Next Star per team and that allows you to develop better.

(06:53):

I do want to touch on that a little bit. I mean, what was it like playing with so many elite prospects on one team going into the year you had four projected top 10 picks, and I imagine there's a fair amount of competition, I guess, between you guys, not just in terms of who's going to be the best, but also for attention and trying to look the best.

(07:13):

Yeah, I mean, it was fun. I think it was so good in practice, for example, because as you said, there was a lot of great players, so being able to compete against them every day was really good. And I think that, I mean, I am focused on [00:07:30] being better or worse than it focused on playing basketball and everything, and I enjoy competing against my teammates every day.

(07:39):

Right, right. I kind of want to switch it back up here again now and discuss next stars and what's going on this season. What are your goals for the season? I mean, both personally and as a team as a whole.

(07:52):

Personally, be a better player in the last year, and I think I'm already, but just keep improving, keep working on my game and just get used to the physicality and everything. So when I get to the NBA, I'm ready to play and play some minutes and as a team just to win a championship. I think that my individual goals as well are just be my best version to help the team win, and then as a team win the championship.

(08:23):

Right, right. Is there certain, you mentioned your shooting before, right? Is there a certain number you want to get to or something along those lines? Like a tangible, quantitative kind of goal?

(08:34):

Yeah. No, not really. I mean, I'll have an attempt goal or anything, just shoot when I think it's a good shot, don't shoot when I think it's a bad shot, but just when I work on practise, of course I have goals like maintain or whatever bar on the games and just play, do the right thing and then the sauce will fall.

(08:55):

Right. Yeah, definitely. I mean, do you feel like you have something to prove, I guess going into this year? I mean, last year probably didn't go the way you wanted in terms of how it ended, of course. I assume the goal last year was to make it to the NBA. Going into that ignite season, do you have something you feel like you want to prove to Scouts executives?

(09:18):

Yeah, I mean, I'm just trying to prove that I'm the same person that I was doing the under 19 World Cup, under 18 European championship and everything. I mean, I think that I didn't do, yeah, that last season didn't go as expected, but I think that that doesn't mean much. I mean, it was just one, not bad season, but I mean, I had high goals and I couldn't achieve them, but I feel like, yeah, I'm just trying to prove that I'm the same person and that I can do a lot of things that I didn't sold last year.

(09:56):

Right, right. Look, I know you're a busy guy. That's all I've got for you for now, I will let you go. Thanks for jumping on with me and hopefully we can chop it up a few more times over the rest of the season.

(10:06):

Thank you.

(10:07):

All right. Have a good one!