On Monday, Warriors guard Brandin Podzemski learned he had earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors for the 2023-24 season in one of the coolest ways possible.
Steve Nash, a two-time NBA MVP and two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year at Santa Clara University, Podzemski's alma mater, congratulated the 21-year-old Podzemski in a video message, announcing his commitment to Golden State. Congratulations on the first step of what you hope to achieve. He received many honors in the league.
“Brandin, congratulations on making the All-Rookie team,” Nash said. “Very well deserved. It's been a lot of fun watching you play and watching you grow and become an important part of what the Dubs do. I look forward to seeing you as the rest of your career unfolds. I can’t wait to see you go. Keep up the effort.”
“Congratulations and best of luck.”
Nash and Podzemski are both former Broncos, and the young Warriors guard was unable to crack the rotation at Illinois, so he opted to transfer to Santa Clara. The move paid off, with Podzemski ultimately being selected by Golden State with the 19th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and producing enough success to earn All-Rookie honors this season.
“While watching the video, I noticed that [Warriors senior vice president of communications Raymond Ridder] showed it to me and Steve Nash gave me a shout out. So it was pretty cool,” Podzemski told reporters 90 minutes after Monday's All-Rookie Team announcement.
College was the only school to recruit Nash from high school, and after the school retired his No. 11 jersey in September 2006, Nash settled on Santa Clara. Nash left Santa Clara with the 15th overall pick in the 1996 draft and was an eight-time NBA All-Star.
However, unlike Podzemski, Nash was not selected to the All-Rookie team after entering the league. It's certainly a tall order, but perhaps the Warriors guard may be well on his way to becoming the next great player out of Santa Clara.
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