Juancho Hernangómez and Adam Sandler, during the filming of the movie ‘Garra’ (‘Hustle’).
Surprise. Utah Jazz player and world champion Juancho Hernangómez stars alongside Adam Sandler in the film ‘Garra’ (‘Hustle’), which opens on June 10
It is common, especially in the United States, for well-known athletes to participate in series and movies with fleeting appearances. Pau Gasol, for example, played ‘the bad guy’ in an episode of ‘CSI Miami’ more than ten years ago and also made a cameo in ‘Modern Family’ during its stage in Los Angeles, but what few expected was that Juancho Hernangómez (Madrid, 1995) was one of the main protagonists along with Adam Sandler in the movie ‘Garra’ (‘Hustle’) that Netflix will premiere on its platform on June 10.
It was known that Juancho Hernangómez, the Utah Jazz player, was working on this film, directed by Jeremiah Zagar and produced, among others, by Sandler himself and LeBron James’ producer, SpringHill Company, but the weight of Juancho Hernangómez in the plot.
This week Netflix has unveiled the final trailer for the film and the world champion with the 2019 national team plays Bo Cruz, a street basketball player who is discovered by an NBA scout on a Madrid court. This ‘scout’ (Adam Sandler) is fired by the Philadelphia 76ers and begins to travel the world in search of talent that will once again open the doors of the best basketball league in the world, when he finds Juancho Hernangómez.
Headhunters in low hours
From there, the fight begins and the path to gain a foothold in the profession, as described in the synopsis of the film: “Sandler plays a basketball scout in low hours who, while abroad, discovers a player with enormous talent but with a difficult past. Without his team’s approval, he decides to take the phenom with him, giving them both one last chance to prove themselves worthy of the NBA.”
Juancho Hernangómez, a year younger than his brother Willy (player for the New Orleans Pelicans) and son of Margarita ‘Wonny’ Geuer, 1993 Eurobasket champion with Spain, missed part of the 2020/21 preseason because he was working on the shoot. He was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and didn’t expect voluntary workouts to be in September, so he couldn’t get to meet his new franchise until he finished filming in Philadelphia.
But Juancho Hernangómez is not the only NBA player who has participated in the film. In order for the story to be as close as possible to the setting of a franchise, others such as the 2.24 meter Serbian Boban Marjanovic will also have their share of the screen.
