Several Boston Celtics players are representing the team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, including Neemias Queta (Portugal), Luka Garza (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Amari Williams (United Kingdom), and Hugo Gonzalez (Spain). Gonzalez playing for his home country also means he's playing with a Celtics alum: Juancho Hernangomez.
It really feels like forever ago, because he represents a brief bygone era no one remembers nor wants to remember, but Hernangomez was on the team during the dark days of the 2021-22. He didn't leave much of an impact before they dumped him to Utah, but he was on the team.
Before we go down memory lane, Gonzalez and Hernangomez are teammates for Spain in the tournament, and they're making some nifty plays together.
Juancho x Hugo = showtime 🍿#FIBAWC x @BaloncestoESP pic.twitter.com/4lUtI3hbOJ
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 31, 2026
It's funny to both get a blast from the past while also taking a peek at the Celtics' future, all in one setting. It's also funny to see one Celtic when there's not much to say negatively about teaming up with another Celtic who got himself a bit of a negative reputation not too long after he left the team in 2022.
Why Juancho is controversial
Hernangomez wasn't in Boston for all that long. He didn't leave a very good impression on the team. Despite having a rep as a stretch big, he never really lived up to that billing. Making it worse was that on the defensive side of the court, he didn't provide much resistance.
It won't be too long before Hernangomez is a fun Celtics trivia question.
Anyway, after his time in Boston was done, he had some choice words for the team around the time they made the NBA Finals. While promoting his movie Hustle, Hernangomez did not mince words about what went wrong with the Celtics.
"As a team, they were very selfish players, with a lot of ego among themselves. We didn't connect," Hernangomez said. "It has been seen afterward that they knew how to play with seven or eight rotation players, and they played very well. But the problem was that there was no team off the court."
Hernangomez even admitted he lost his love for the game during his time as a Celtic.
"Venía de Boston que a nivel de equipo eran jugadores un poco egoístas, había ego entre ellos. Después con 7 jugadores de cambio han sabido como jugar y juegan muy bien con 7/8. El problema era ese, que fuera de la pista no se hacía equipo".@juanchiviris41 en #GeneraciónNBA. pic.twitter.com/kgSfW5WmRN
— NBA en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarNBA) May 26, 2022
He went on to walk back those comments after they went viral (did he really think no one was going to catch wind of what he said?! In the internet era?!), but even then, the damage was kind of done.
It's safe to say that Celtics fans who remember Hernangomez either don't care about him at all or still hold his comments against him. At times like these, it's cool to see that none of that ill will is held towards Gonzalez and likely (not to mention hopefully) won't ever be.
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