PORTLAND, Ore. – One of the first things that Walter Thompson-Hernández did when he started playing professional basketball was buy a notebook and a digital camera. He was at the beginning of a professional journey that would take him across Latin America, and while he was there to play basketball, he realized quickly that his basketball career wasn't his long-term goal.
Sure, he had his NBA dreams, like any kid who grows up playing basketball that gets the opportunity to play Division I hoops. But it was during his time in Mexico that he realized that the NBA probably wasn't calling, and that was fine.