Spencer Hawes: 'I missed the max contract by a couple of years'

Do you ever feel like you were ahead of your time, drafted a few years too early? Spencer Hawes: I kind of joke about my buddies. I missed the max [contract] by a couple of years. Well, I think the game just wasn’t in such a good place [like today] and I mean, my game as well. I came in kind of as a more traditional old-school post-up player and I realized that pretty quickly that wasn’t working. So, I kind of had to figure out a different way to try and get on the floor and help the team win.

Source: HoopsHype

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Spencer Hawes: I think the load management bullsh*t has finally has finally gotten to bump at least as far as I understand it, but I just remember coming into a league like guys making it a point of pride to play 82 games and I fortunately was able to do it once. I think the culture was different. There’s probably the easiest answer for it where that was something that you really take pride in. I think that that culture shifted probably starting with the organizations and I think was well-intentioned. It’s funny, you always hear the argument from people asking why you play every game. But for me, it’s like, well, there’s a kid whose dad saved up money to come watch me play, and I don’t want to let that kid down. I always thought that was a pretty solid argument, and I never really gave it too much more thought. -via HoopsHype / September 16, 2024

Spencer Hawes: I remember last year, one of my best friends, Mitch Johnson, who coaches for the Spurs, was playing Portland. A bunch of us went down to see the game, and leading up to it, we were all excited, wondering about Victor Wembanyama, “Is he playing? I want to see what this guy looks like in person.” When we got there, he did a couple of those insane moves, like that “go-go gadget” Space Jam thing, where his foot landed before he even dunked the ball. It was wild – something I’d never seen or even imagined before. I turned to my buddy and said, “I think he traveled there, but how do you even officiate something like that?” It was just unreal. Sorry for the tangent, but yeah, it’s those moments where you realize how incredible it is to see certain players in person, and you don’t want to miss out on that. -via HoopsHype / September 16, 2024

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Spencer Hawes: 'I missed the max contract by a couple of years'