In an instant, seemingly, Nuggets forward Juancho Hernangomez goes from playing against his boyhood basketball idols – Pau and Marc Gasol – during his rookie season, to playing alongside them. That’s the power of FIBA EuroBasket 2017, where the rapidly-improving Hernangomez also gets to play alongside his brother, Willy.
The European tournament, played every two years, is a study in familiar storylines. Yet those storylines feature new faces. Juancho Hernangomez is an embodiment of that, playing for a Spain team that – as usual – is the favorite to win, which would give them back-to-back titles because they won in 2015.