Raptors' Jakob Poeltl on making the NBA against all odds

Raptors centre Jakon Poeltl joined Strictly Hoops to discuss the basketball culture in Austria and how he grew to love the game in a country that doesn't really play the sport. Watch the full episode on our Yahoo Sports Canada YouTube channel or listen on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: No-- no kidding. We're going to go really far back here, and I want to ask you about your Austrian roots because I believe on October 26, 2016, you became the first Austrian-born player to ever play at an NBA game. First off, kudos.

CJ MILES: That's crazy.

AMIT MANN: Very, very cool stuff.

CJ MILES: You can put an applause in there.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, applauso. So are you essentially the Franz Klammer of Austrian basketball?

JAKOB POELTL: You know who that is, CJ?

CJ MILES: I have no idea.

JAKOB POELTL: In a way, yes, sure, you could say that. But also, absolutely not because people in Austria really, really care about skiing. And they really don't care that much about basketball. So even though I, like, am the first Austrian NBA player, like ever, like basketball just doesn't really have that standing in Austria.

So I can still fly under the radar a good amount, like, people-- people know who I am. Like, I'll get recognized, but it's not-- it's not what you might think it is. Like, you think, like, he's the only person from this country to ever do it. Like, there's a reason because, like, people just don't really play basketball like that in Austria.

CJ MILES: They're skiing.

JAKOB POELTL: Yeah, they're skiing. They're playing soccer. They're doing other things.

CJ MILES: But what we can say is that now the recognition that you bring will birth other guys. So that's the thing that it happens.

JAKOB POELTL: Yeah.

CJ MILES: And then, we'll get down the line, and then they'll be like, you know, this guy was the one that opened the door. So it just takes time.

JAKOB POELTL: There's-- you can see a little bit of development. Like, I mean, basketball is becoming more and more international anyway. But even, like, in a country like Austria where, like, even-- like, I'd say we're pretty far behind some other European countries that really care about basketball, but you can see the movement. And, like you just said, like, I'm just trying to do my little things, like, first of all, yeah, playing in NBA, like, the recognition obviously helps.

But then like, having these basketball camps, like, just doing-- doing little things I can within Austrian basketball community to like help push it along a little bit more.

CJ MILES: It's also another tool for community, right? It's another thing you could do to help bring people together, to do-- to just have people together in peace and in harmony. And spread light and love. And it doesn't always have to be just about the game, right?

JAKOB POELTL: Yes, it is, and it helps you. But like, it's another tool because of what you've been able to do with it that you can help your city, help your town, help your-- help your parents, your uncles, your cousins, your-- everybody can have something to do with that. And you can just take it through the city.

AMIT MANN: So you are still doing the camps, right?

JAKOB POELTL: Yeah. Yes, I am. Like, this past summer, we had some issues with the gym that we usually use. So like, we had to skip a year. But we're already planning on having it set up for next year. So yeah, I'm still doing the camps.

AMIT MANN: That's awesome, man. And both of your parents were volleyball players.

JAKOB POELTL: Yeah. Yeah.

AMIT MANN: So--

JAKOB POELTL: I'm the only basketball player in my family.

AMIT MANN: So are you a good skier, and are you a good volleyball player?

JAKOB POELTL: I want to say yes, but I haven't been skiing since I was about 16. Like, they cut that off real quick. Like, as soon as I got to any type of like semi-professional level in basketball, they were like, no. Like there's no more skiing.

Like, I used to go every winter. Like, we'd go with the family. Like, that's just-- it's basically something you do in Austria. Like, if you grow up in Austria, you, like, you grow up around mountains and stuff.

Like, it's-- like, kids in the US, they go on to play, like, hoops, like going to the streets, like, shooting hoops and stuff like that. Like, that's just-- like, you, like, have, like, a little winter thing, like, in-- you ski down the mountains. And volleyball, yeah, I still play volleyball.

Like, because my parents both played, like anytime we were on some sort of like family vacation, , like when I'm with friends, like, on a beach somewhere, there's like some beach volleyball set up, like, I try to play. Like, I learned a little bit from my parents. Like, they didn't let me leave the house without, like, no volleyball education. So I got a little something.

CJ MILES: So-- so here's the-- this is just the thought that's popping in my head. So you're in Austria, there's no basketball, there's nothing with skiing, nobody in your family play basketball, and you end up being Jakob Poeltl. How does this happen?

JAKOB POELTL: I-- honestly, I don't know. Like, it's-- I mean, like there's-- like, it's-- Vienna is a big city. Like, there's about, like-- there's almost two million people living in Vienna. So there's still like- it's just a small basketball community, like, but there is basketball. And I was a really tall kid. So it was just one of those things where--

CJ MILES: [INAUDIBLE]

JAKOB POELTL: A lot of energy.

CJ MILES: Yeah, here's a better question. Who came and was, like, hey come play basketball? Like, who was it somebody in your family come and got you, a coach just saw you--

JAKOB POELTL: Yeah, it was my parents.

CJ MILES: OK, that's the question.

JAKOB POELTL: My parents-- like, I was, like-- I was this little kid. I was probably like in first grade, second grade, something like that. And they were like, well, you got too much energy. Like, you got to go do something with it.

So I tried-- I tried all kinds of things. But, like, basketball was one of the first things I tried just because I was so tall, and I just stuck with it. So it was really-- it was never like a plan to go pro. Like, it was never like a thing, like, I want to become the next whoever or like be a professional basketball player in the NBA, in Austria or wherever. Like, it just kind of like-- it was like one step in front of the other. Like one day, I was in the spot where I was like, well, I can really do something with this.