Rising NBA star and known hair artist Jeremy Sochan, in town to support rising Filipino basketball stars, sees a bright future for the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan doesn’t shock easily, but when he flew into Manila earlier this week, the traffic situation left him stunned.
“I was driving somewhere for, like, two hours, and it was seven miles,” he said with a laugh during a media gathering Wednesday at the NBA Philippines office. “It didn’t make any sense. But it’s a new experience. I never knew. I think it’s one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It’s crazy. I’m looking outside, and, like, it just keeps going.
“It’s crazy big, but, no, it’s been good vibes. I’m learning how to be more patient in the traffic, so it’s good for me. For me, that’s important.”
Overall, though, Jeremy has been enjoying his first trip to the Philippines, where he is slowly learning just how big basketball and the NBA can be.
“It’s my second day. Long travel, over like 19 hours in the plane, so it took a long time, but it’s been great. The vibes, the weather’s been beautiful. I never knew that Manila was going to be this huge. The traffic too, but overall, you know, good vibes. I’ve eaten good food, so yeah, it’s been great.”
Jeremy Sochan actually first got a glimpse of Filipinos’ passion for the sport last year during a tune-up game between Poland and Gilas Pilipinas in the lead-up to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
“It’s crazy,” he recalled. “I didn’t really know what to expect. One of my best friends, Carl, he’s half-Filipino, so he used to tell me a lot about the basketball culture here and how crazy it is, but I’d never really seen it in person, so I didn’t know.
“And we were playing, and all of a sudden, I’m warming up and I’m going onto the court and, like, half the arena’s from the Philippines. So I was like, ‘OK, this is crazy.’ And they were full of energy, loud.
“And as the game went on, it was just the same thing. Like, they never stopped. And I think that’s like we need that in general, in basketball.
“So I think that it’s a big part of basketball culture. It’s super cool to see. I see a lot of stuff on Instagram, even like I didn’t know that I had so many fans from the Philippines.”
Rising Stars
Jeremy Sochan is in Manila as a special guest for the NBA Rising Stars Invitational Philippines Qualifiers, which runs from May 7 to 10. The tournament will see boys’ and girls’ high school teams battle it out to represent the Philippines in the first-ever NBA Rising Stars Invitational to be held in Singapore in late June and will feature top high school teams from 11 Asian countries.
Sochan himself did not have a traditional high school basketball experience, having to constantly uproot himself from different countries growing up. He says his primary message to the participants will be to have fun and soak up the experience.
“It’s not always going to be easy,” he said. “When I look at my childhood, being in high school, being invited to these tournaments, they can be stressful, they can be nerve-wracking. But at the end of the day I think the most important thing is to have fun, work hard, do the little things and just enjoy it.
“It’s huge to me, being invited to be here in the Philippines for the Rising Stars Invitationals. I was in this situation too. It wasn’t easy. I was in Europe, I played in multiple high schools in Germany and England, a little bit in America and I think, for me, it’s just super excited to be in an environment where there’s younger kids playing, wanting to go, whoever wins goes to Singapore for the regionals.
“So I think it’s super exciting and hopefully I can inspire and give good energy to the tournament.”
That hair coloring
Like another Spurs player who also wore no. 10 on his jersey, Dennis Rodman, Jeremy Sochan is known in NBA circles for his ever-changing hair color.
When he was drafted in June 2022, he went with bleach. On media day a few months later, he rocked with orange, pink and blue to celebrate the fiesta spirit in his new city of San Antonio.
A few years ago there was even speculation that he dyed his hair a different color in the middle of a game. And last December, in the spirit of Christmas, he sported what he called a “Grinch green” look.
On Wednesday when he met with Philippine media, he was back to bleach.
“It depends. It depends,” he said when asked what motivates him to pick a certain color. “Sometimes there have been meanings towards it. But other times, it’s really just having fun with it. You know, interacting with the fans, with my teammates, asking what they think.
“And I’m an open book. So, if someone tells me to do a color that I haven’t done, I’m going to do it. And just, you know, have fun with it and bring people together for it. So, yeah. You know, it’s just the vibes.”
If he ever plays in Manila, he said he’d be down to patterning his hair after the colors on the Philippine flag.
“Yeah. Maybe. If there’s a game here and our team’s here, maybe I’ll do that.”
Wemby, Pop, and the Spurs
Last season, the Spurs were rocked when longtime coach and team president Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke that forced him to step away from the team for several months. Popovich eventually recovered, but a few days ago announced that he was stepping down as head coach to concentrate solely on his role as team president.
Like the rest of the team, Jeremy Sochan feels blessed to have been coached by a legend like Popovich.
“My first year in the league, he was my coach,” he said. “(I’m) truly blessed, honored to be coached by someone who has the most wins in the NBA. You could say he’s the best coach ever to live.
“I’m just happy that he’s still part of the organization and he’s still having some involvement in decisions and just like culture and identity. So again, super happy for him. I know he’s been working hard in his recovery and stuff.
“So it’s just a blessing to be around him and the organization. (Popovich is) a person who sees basketball but also is an ultimate human being and it’s all about just growing and learning and having fun with that process.”
The Spurs finished out of the playoff picture after superstar center Victor Wembanyama’s season was cut short by a blood clot, but Sochan said he is “super excited” for what the future holds for the franchise. For the second straight year, a Spurs rookie was named Rookie of the Year.
“I think we’re building a team and we’re trending up,” he said. “Every year has been better. We got Stephon Castle, who had an unbelievable rookie year. Of course, we have Victor, who’s unique, a unicorn that no one’s ever seen.
“But then we added players like D’Aaron Fox and even last year we learned from all-time greats like Chris Paul. And Harrison Barnes was there, too. That helped a lot. So I think as a team we’ve matured, we’re making a lot of progress and, yeah, I think we’re all super excited in the building process.
“This year was a step up. And I think next season, we’re trying our goals to make the playoffs and go as far as we can. For me, it’s to keep developing, keep growing as a player, as a human and just be a big part of the team. And just prove what I can do and stay consistent with it.”
Images from AFP.