‘Hustle’ Star Juancho Hernangómez Reveals How His NBA Skills Are Similar to Bo Cruz (Exclusive)

Juancho Hernangómez currently stars in the Netflix film Hustle with Adam Sandler. In the movie, Hernangómez plays Bo Cruz, an NBA prospect discovered by Stanley Sugarman (Sandler). Hernangómez actually plays in the NBA, and in an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, the 26-year-old NBA star details how his skills are similar to his character in Hustle. 

“We shoot the same way,” Hernangómez exclusively told PopCulture. “He probably plays way better defense than me, because he blocks shots. He steals the ball, and that’s kind of the fantastic thing. But probably me as a player, I’m more like a team player. I play with energy. I open the floor and I give my everything. I give my best to the team.”

In Hustle, Bo is very dominant when he takes on a variety of opponents because he can do it all on the court. In real life, Hernangómez is more of a role player who has been a key contributor to multiple teams. He was selected No. 15 overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2014 and has also spent time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and his current team the Utah Jazz. Hernangómez is from Spain and won a gold medal in the 2019 World Cup while playing for the Spain national team. 

Hustle is the first big film for Hernangómez, and he revealed what he learned while filming. “I learned a lot about how to be patient with others, how to be patient with the group, about life can change so fast,” Hernangómez said. “Whatever you cannot control, don’t worry. Go day by day, embrace the journey, keep working hard, keep getting better day by day, and don’t worry about things that you cannot control. I mean, in the movie, things can change so fast. I mean the timings, the scenes, the locations, and you got to just be ready. Have patience, and whatever you can control, control it. If not, just keep living.”

But are more movies in the future for Hernangómez? “I mean, two years ago, I didn’t expect to do a movie and be here right now,” he said. “So I’m not going to close that door. And if Jeremiah [Zagar] or Adam calls me or need some help, I will say yes for sure, because I know how they work and the feeling we got is amazing. And so my answer is you never know. We’ll see.”