© Jaime Valdez, USA TODAY
Spurs Rookie Jeremy Sochan Building Fanbase in Poland
The San Antonio Spurs pride themselves on building an international brand with players from all over the world.
It helped with the core of the last great successful iteration of the Spurs, and it appears to be a common theme with the current version of the team.
Rookie Jeremy Sochan is a big proponent of this as a Polish-American player. As the only NBA player playing for the Poland national basketball team, Sochan has grown to be immensely popular in his home country, placing first in jersey sales across the country, according to sports journalist Karol Sliwa.
"It’s exciting to have this platform and not only play for myself and my family, but also play for the people in Poland and England, and have the ability to inspire kids to play the game and be themselves," Sochan wrote in his rookie diary.
Sochan's mom Aneta played college basketball at Panhandle State in Oklahoma, where she met Ryan Williams, who helped give birth to Jeremy in 2003.
As the son of two collegiate basketball players, Sochan began playing early while living in England and eventually moved to the United States to pursue other opportunities. He began playing high school basketball in Indiana, but moved back to Europe to play professionally for a season in Germany.
Then, Sochan moved to Texas to play one season at Baylor and was drafted in nearby San Antonio to start his NBA career with the Spurs.
Sochan has a very unique journey to the pros, but it's clear that he isn't forgetting his roots in Poland ... and his home country is celebrating him for it.
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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