Willy and Juancho Hernangomez: The Spanish NBA siblings who thrive in FIBA action
Joining forces once again at 2023 FIBA World Cup, Spain's Hernangomez brothers - arguably the most well-known sibling duo in international basketball right now - are the key to La Roja's success on the world stage.
Basketball
Juancho Hernangomez is a 2.06m, 97kg actor who happens to be an exceptionally good basketball player. Ok, that might be the wrong way round, but ask any fan of the movie Hustle, produced by Adam Sandler and LeBron James, and they'll tell you just how convincing the forward's performance was.
The plot of the movie centers around an NBA scout who discovers a raw but talented player in Spain ('Bo Cruz', played by Hernangomez), and tries to prepare him for the NBA Draft. On his journey to America and the NBA, Cruz joins a workout with the Spanish men's national team, impressing the staff and existing players, including Juancho's real-life brother Willy, who has a short cameo in the movie.
It's a cool story, but the Hernangomezes' journey to the NBA and basketball stardom was nothing like the movie: from an early age the brothers were so good at basketball there was zero chance they wouldn't be discovered. With the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in full swing, the pair are the face of Spain's national team, and how they perform at the tournament will dictate whether La Roja will win another gold - as has been the case for years.
The Hernangomezes' actual journey to the NBA
Willy and Juancho were born in Madrid almost two years apart (Willy in 1994, Juancho in 1995) . As teenagers, the brothers - who also have a sister, Andrea (born in 2000), who plays basketball for Fairfield University in the United States and the Spanish junior national teams - would regularly play against their parents, which was actually pretty tough competition. All three kids come from exceptional basketball stock: their father, Guillermo Hernangómez Heredero, played for Real Madrid Baloncesto and Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D during his career, and their mother is 1993 EuroBasket champion Margarita 'Wonny' Geuer.
But sometimes those friendly family games of two-on-two could get a little...unfriendly.
In one such contest, Margarita fouled Willy; on the next play, Willy, on offense, hit her in the face with his elbow.
That was a long time ago, and it's fair to say that Willy is his mum's No.1 fan - after all, he carries her last name - 'Geur' on his national team jersey. But the incident was a sign of things to come, as he and his brother have become well known for their toughness and tenacity on the court — not to mention their ability to get under their opponents' skin.
For example, in 2016, Willy, who was less than a month into his NBA career, suited up for the New York Knicks in a game against the Atlanta Hawks and Dwight Howard - at the time one of the league's most renowned big men. Once again, an elbow was thrown - but this time it came from Howard, who had had enough of the pushing, prodding, and general nuissance that was Hernangomez. The Spaniard barely flinched following the blow, later telling the New York Times: "Maybe he felt pain in his elbow."
It wasn't long before the Hernangomezes graduated from backyard battles with their parents to competitive youth basketball: Juancho with the youth teams of CB Las Rozas, Real Madrid and Club Baloncesto Majadahonda, Willy with Real Madrid's youth academy.
Juancho signed his first professional contract in 2012 when he joined CB Estudiantes; in the following years he also helped Spain win bronze at the 2013 European U-18 Championships and silver at the 2014 and 2015 U-20 tournaments. His stellar play on the international circuit and with Estudiantes meant that the 2.06m, 97kg forward started to draw interest from NBA teams, and in 2016 he was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 15th overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Willy had made the leap to the NBA one year earlier after being selected with the 35th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers (he was subsequently traded to the New York Knicks that same night) after impressing with Real Madrid's senior team. Like Juancho, Willy had also gained experience with Spain's youth national teams, winning gold at the 2011 U-18 European Championships as well as silver alongside his brother at the 2014 U-20 tournament in Greece.
Jan 15, 2020; Denver, Colorado, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Willy Hernangomez (9) greets his brother Denver Nuggets forward Juan Hernangomez (41) following a game.
The pair would go on to have stellar careers in the NBA, playing for a combined nine teams - though sadly, never together. In 344 games in the NBA, Willy posted per game averages of 7.3 pts and 5.8 rebounds with a field goal percentage of 53.3 while also being named to the All-Rookie First Team; Juancho tallied 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 42.8 percent from the field over the course of 339 games in the association.
The brothers are no longer in the NBA, as both will begin the 2023-24 season playing in Europe (Willy with FC Barcelona Bàsquet in Spain's Liga ACB, Juancho with six-time EuroLeague champions Panathinaikos in Greece). But don't forget that simply making it to the NBA is an incredible accomplishment for any basketball player, and playing and contributing to teams over the course of seven season in the world's top professional men's basketball league is exceptionally rare.
As it is, fans of Greek, Spanish and European basketball will now get to enjoy watching the Hernangomezes on the FIBA hardwood — which happens to be their especialidad.
The successors to the Gasol brothers
Juancho and Willy are not the first pair of Spanish basketball brothers to have made an impact for club and country. Pau and Marc Gasol won a combined 20 medals while suiting up for La Roja , including Olympic silver in 2008 and 2012 and gold at the 2006 World Cup and 2009, 2011 and 2015 EuroBasket tournaments. They're also NBA champions (Pau won two rings with the Los Angeles Lakers, Marc one with the Toronto Raptors), multi-time NBA All-Stars and have a host of other awards and accolades that frankly deserves its own article. The point is, the Hernangomez brothers had the best possible duo to watch and eventually succeed as they were gaining valuable experience playing for Spain in FIBA competition.
“It is impossible for two brothers like the Gasols to emerge at that level,” Willy told Eurohoops. “Two All-Stars. It is very difficult for something like that to happen again.”
“It will be very difficult for something similar to the Gasols to be repeated,” echoed his brother. “If we reached half of their level in the future, it would be fine.”
While the Hernangomezes may not match the NBA careers of the Gasols, there's no doubt that the Spanish torch has been passed from the latter to the former. Indeed, in FIBA play, with its smaller court and rules that are far more lenient on physical play than what you'll find in the NBA, WIlly and Juancho are downright superstars.
Juancho Hernangomez and Willy Hernangomez celebrate after the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 semi-final match between Germany and Spain
Willy was already a two-time Liga ACB champion, European champion and Olympic bronze medallist (Rio 2016) before he had even played a game in the NBA. Both brothers were key members of Spain's gold-medal campaign at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in the People's Republic of China. But it was the most recent international tournament in 2022 where the pair really showed what they could do.
EuroBasket 2022 saw Spain win its fourth European championship, which was in no small part thanks to the performances of their two star big men. In the final against France, Juancho scored 27 points including seven three-pointers to guide La Familia to an 88-76 win over Les Bleus. In the post-game awards ceremony, Willy was named the EuroBasket MVP after averaging 17.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game (both team-highs).
Defending the world title
The Hernangomez brothers are currently in the midst of defending their world title at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and so far, Spain — the No.1 ranked team in the world have already secured their passage to the secound round of the competition, and there's no doubt that the Hernangomez brothers and coaching staff of the team will already be preparing for tougher contests down the road. The USA, Canada and Serbia could all challenge Spain for the championship, though plenty of other teams such as Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia should not be underestimated...
Spain's Juancho Hernangomez in action with Ivory Coast's Vafessa Fofana
Winning the World Cup would give the Hernangomezes the same amount of World Cup gold medals as Marc Gasol and one more than Pau, but it would also mean that Spain will have secured a quota spot for the men's basketball competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And while it's not guranteed, it could also mean that Juancho would finally become an Olympian after missing out on Tokyo 2020 due to injury. But as National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
But before Spain can get too far ahead of themselves, they need to take care of the task at hand. And with Willy and Juancho Hernangomez leading the charge, they have the best tools for the job at their disposal.