Warriors center Quinten Post reflects on making the NBA as a Dutch player, declining Barca and Mega offers.
Quinten Post discusses the difficulties of becoming an NBA player in the Netherlands, a country with little tradition in basketball, and speaks about his special relationship with Stephen Curry.
Orange is the recognised colour of the Netherlands, but in a country that breathes football, cycling, and field hockey, chasing the orange ball is rare.
Still, Quinten Post has always passionately chased it, and his dedication eventually brought him to the US and the NBA.
After all, he was meant to be a hooper around the rim as a seven-footer with 'Post' as his last name.
Breaking barriers from the Netherlands to the NBA
The 25-year-old Warriors center feels like an outlier in a country with little tradition of basketball.
He is a culprit who broke down a considerable barrier that, to this day, feels as big as the Afsluitdijk bridge. Post embarked on the still-uncharted waters of top-level basketball in the Netherlands to get to the promised land of the sport.
The NBA has seen only nine Dutch players in nearly 80 years of history, including Post, who is setting high standards for himself.
In a conversation with BasketNews in Toronto, the Amsterdam native admitted he would like to emulate Francisco Elson, the Dutch pioneer who won a ring with the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili, in 2007.
Elson remains the only NBA champion from the Netherlands, but Quinten Post might have a good shot playing alongside the all-time best shooter, Stephen Curry.
The Dutchman is averaging 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 18 minutes per game off the bench, while shooting 44% from the field and 34.7% from deep in his second NBA season.
Post signed a standard NBA contract with the Warriors in the middle of last season, after beginning his pro career by playing mostly in the G League under a two-way contract.
The Dutch center reflected on his unorthodox path to the NBA as a Dutch player, the state of basketball in the Netherlands, past offers from FC Barcelona and Mega, before going to the NCAA and NBA Europe.
Growth with the Warriors and the Steph Curry effect
– Coach Steve Kerr highlighted how much you are improving this season, especially on the defensive end. What are the biggest changes for you in your second year with the Warriors?
– I feel like just being in the league for a year, seeing a lot of guys, seeing a lot of second time, it really helps.
[Last year] I played against them for the first time, and then I was in the G League. I've relied on that a little more, knowing what my role is.
It's definitely a little easier, but now instead of playing half a season, I'm going to be here for the whole year, so it's more of a grind.
– You told a very nice story about Stephen Curry giving you a ride once because you didn't have way to get back home from the airport. How is your relationship with Steph off the court?
– Steph is great. He is obviously a leader in this locker room. He is a great player and an even better guy, just seeing how he treats everybody in this organization.
I mean, he puts it on the line for us every single night. It's awesome to see him work, how he goes about his work, and then how he performs in the game is obviously really cool to see.
Representing a non-basketball nation
– You're the first Dutch player in the NBA since 2009. What does it mean to you to be representing the Netherlands on such a big stage?
– It's an honor. Honestly, being from the Netherlands, it's very hard to make the NBA, because basketball just isn't that big.
So now, it's like an honor to represent back home. and hope to put the Netherlands on the map a little bit.
– Francisco Elson became the first Dutch player to win the NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. He is also the only player from the Netherlands who has won a ring to date. Your goal might be trying to emulate him, right?
– Yeah, exactly. I mean, he obviously set the blueprint, he and Rik Smits. Rik Smits was way before, but Francisco had a super successful career in the NBA, so he is someone I look up to and try to emulate.
– The Netherlands has always been more a country of football, cycling and field hockey. Basketball doesn't have so much presence there as you mentioned. Do you feel like an outlier for being a basketball star playing in the NBA?
– Yes, like I said, it's not one of the bigger sports, even though we have a lot of height in the Netherlands. I left the country around the time I was 18 to play in Berlin and the USA in college.
It was a long journey for me, but to be from the Netherlands and to make it in the NBA, it's not an easy thing to do. I've appreciated my whole journey, and I appreciate where I am now. Like I said, just putting the Netherlands on the map a little bit means a lot to me.
Choosing the NCAA over European powerhouses
– You reportedly turned down offers from Barca and Mega to go to the US instead and play in the NCAA with Mississippi State when you were around 19 years old. What went into that decision?
– I was really like an under-recruited player. I think I came on the basketball scene very late, so I had already made up my mind to go to college. Then, at the last minute, I played for the Dutch U-20 national team. I think I played in a tournament in Andorra.
I think that's where Barca saw me, and they didn't know too much about me, but they wanted to give me a shot, and the same with Mega, because I played for ALBA Berlin in Germany.
It was last-minute, and I really appreciated those organizations for reaching out to me, but my mind was made up that I wanted to take the college route.
Credit FIBA Media
The future of Dutch basketball and cycling parallels
– Speaking of the Dutch national team, the Netherlands has participated in EuroBasket only twice since 1989, in 2015 and 2022, the World Cup once, and has never participated in the Olympics.
What needs to be done in the country to make the big-stage international tournaments?
– I think we're on the right track. We have a lot of talented players in my generation, some in the G League here, some playing in Spain, and some in the ACB.
Therefore, we're on the right track. I think we have a good coach right now (Arik Shivek). We just need to get all the guys together and take some pride in playing for our national team, so I think we're on the right track.
– You have never played in the EuroLeague, but the NBA wants to create its own European league. What are your thoughts on it as a European player? Do you think both the EuroLeague and NBA Europe could coexist?
– Yes, good question. I don't have a clear answer; I don't know enough about NBA Europe yet. I mean, I think the EuroLeague is a great league that's been run for a long time with great players.
I can't say anything useful about it, because I honestly don't know, but it's definitely exciting for the NBA to reach out.
I'm excited to see how it's going to look in the next few years, and I think they should be able to coexist.
– We were talking about cycling before starting this interview. As a big fan, if you had to compare yourself with a pro cyclist, considering the type of basketball player that you are, who would it be?
– I would be Wout Van Aert, he is a Dutch cyclist. He's not really a specialist; he is kind of like an all-rounder.
He helps the guy in yellow as a helper, but he can also go and ride his own race and win for himself, because I watched the show on Netflix and I liked it.
He's also a guy who wants to sacrifice for the team to help his lead man, so he's a guy I like.
Toni Canyameras
Toni Canyameras began his basketball media career in 2021, covering FC Barcelona. He became a fan of the sport thanks to Barça and the Japanese manga series Slam Dunk. Toni moved to Toronto in 2022 and has since been covering the NBA from a European perspective, reporting on games, All-Star weekends, and the Summer League. He holds a degree in Journalism, a Master's Degree in Sports Journalism in Spain, and a Postgraduate in Journalism in Canada.
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