Spencer Hawes: 'It was a point of pride to play 82 games'

Spencer Hawes, the 10th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, was nicknamed Baby Calf in high school and built a reputation as a floor-spacing big man during his decade-long career. Standing at seven feet, Hawes became known for his unique combination of size and shooting ability, making him one of the few players to embody this skill set in an era before the modern stretch big became widely popular.

Hawes began his career with the Sacramento Kings, appearing in 220 games before later stints with the 76ers, Clippers, and Hornets – his most productive years coming in Philadelphia, where he helped the team reach the Conference semifinals in the 2012 playoffs.

In a chat with HoopsHype, Hawes reflected on his NBA journey, how he adapted his game to the evolving league, stories about the teammates he played with, his thoughts on being one of the early floor-spacing bigs in the modern NBA, and more.

Do you ever feel like you were ahead of your time, drafted a few years too early?

Spencer Hawes: I kind of joke about my buddies. I missed the max [contract] by a couple of years. Well, I think the game just wasn't in such a good place [like today] and my game as well. I came in kind of as a more traditional old-school post-up player and I realized that pretty quickly that wasn't working. So, I kind of had to figure out a different way to try and get on the floor and help the team win.

How was it for you in those first few years, moving from Washington to Sacramento and then Philadelphia? How did you handle not winning consistently?

SH: It was tough. I think that I had three coaches in three years in Sacramento and kind of stuck with like the remnants, the tail end of their golden era there with, you know, a couple of guys that were left over that were kind of finally getting phased out and then going just completely the kind of young developmental route.

And I think when I got traded from SAC to Philly, it was kind of a chance to start over and hook up with a really talented young roster that we were probably able to overachieve the first couple of years, and then it was kind of back and down zero after we [were all] traded away.

That 2011-2012 team was stacked – you, Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Louis Williams, Elton Brand, and Nikola Vucevic all on the same roster. What was it like playing with that group?

SH: Yeah, Thad Young was there. He was in my class coming out of high school. Jrue Holiday was a couple of years younger. I remember when Jrue got drafted, he was the first player ever born in the 90s, and that blew my mind. That came up the other day and I was like, 'Oh sh*t, we're getting old.' It's like, damn, you see those posts. You don't need those constantly, but it is kind of funny to put it all together.

Those first few years seemed like constant change – different coaches, moving from Sacramento to Philadelphia, and adjusting your play style. Was that challenging for you, and do you wish anything had gone differently?

SH: Oh, absolutely. I wish I would have one coach through my first however many years, and in Sacramento, I had three in the first three seasons and so I kind of felt like when I got to Philly, it was a chance with Doug Collins to have some stability and some consistency in that organization.

And even with that, that was still when it was the mud ball of the East and we couldn't score. It was all about trying to keep teams under 100 points, which sounds crazy now. And that's how we had to play, you know, in order for us to be successful. It was turning in the right direction before, before they kind of blew everything up in Philly.

Do you ever look back with 'what ifs' or is that something you try to avoid now that you're post-career?

SH: Yeah, it's human nature to think about it. I would say definitely at this point, you know, I don't beat myself up about it, but definitely, you know, when it happens and when you're closer to it, it's hard not to think about this. This play goes this way. This goes that way. You know, it didn't help the fact that they came out and made a movie [Uncut Gems] about it. But, you know, it went out, went, we lost to a good team. I think more so the frustration for me and I know for some of my teammates is just the fact that having that core broken up when four to five starters were 22 or 23 [years old] or younger.

How did you deal with business side of basketball, especially after being traded to Cleveland for the second time? Did you just roll with the punches?

SH: Yeah, I think you just have to try and compartmentalize it. You never really get used to living in a hotel, but there are a lot of great parts of the job and life. Of course, there are some sides that aren’t as glamorous, which most people don’t see.

In the Philly situation, when they made the trade for Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bynum, it was frustrating because they were blowing up the nucleus, the heart of the team, including Andre. At that point, we thought Bynum was going to change the dynamic of our team. I personally felt I needed to focus more on my performance on the floor, stretching it and shooting more. I was excited about playing with another big of his caliber, but in hindsight, it obviously didn’t work out.

The trade that really hit harder was when they moved Jrue. That’s when it became clear the emphasis shifted from winning, or at least making a run for it, to something else entirely. I remember Evan Turner calling me when Jrue was traded in the offseason, and he said, "It’s over now, just a matter of time."

When Brett Brown came in, the style changed overnight from a more defense-focused, half-court system to a fast-paced, analytics-driven approach. Brett told us, "The only way we’re going to compete is to have the best pace in the league and use the math to our advantage."

It wasn’t a fun training camp, but once the games started, it was a lot of fun. We played an up-and-down, modern style, and all of our green lights started blinking. It was a significant shift in how we played and the foundation of our identity.

You mentioned Andrew Bynum, and that was a huge story at the time. He never played a game for Philly, even though you two were supposed to be a dominant frontcourt duo on a hyped-up team. From your perspective, what went wrong behind the scenes?

SH: I always felt bad for Andrew. We hadn’t had a post presence like that obviously in in my time there and even at that point there weren’t many to his caliber in the league.

I remember one practice (and there weren’t many that he was able to take part in) when he was in for the scrimmage, he made four or five plays that were like, "Oh, sh*t. This is gonna be different when we get this guy out there" and I just feel bad for him as someone that’s dealt with more than my fair share of knee injuries. His situation and his knee just not being in a place that ever allowed him to compete at that level again.

Pau Gasol was someone I had looked up to and tried to emulate in my game. When we got Andrew, I started watching his tape, trying to figure out how he played off his teammates and how I could emulate that.

But like I said, sometimes the knees have a different agenda.

Who was the most positive influence as your development as a player?

SH: I think Brett really opened up my game and allowed me to fully utilize my skill set. Growing up, I always shot threes, handled the ball, and passed –like every center who wants to be a point guard, just like how every basketball player wants to be a rapper. I remember during a preseason workout with David Lee, we were doing drills, and I popped out for a 19-footer. He stopped the drill and told me, "No more of that – just pick and pop for threes."

That was kind of a moment for me, like, "Oh, I can shoot threes now!" I had practiced them all the time, but it was fun to finally have the reins taken off. After that, there were no more mid-range shots for me – it was all about the threes.

Your career was cut short by injuries, but do you think if that hadn’t happened, the adjustments you made to your game could’ve helped you play much longer?

SH: Oh, definitely. Anytime you're moving from getting beat up under the hoop for 82 games to playing further out on the floor, it makes things easier. I think that's what you're seeing across the board with players today, regardless of position – or whatever's left of positions. It's about longevity and the way the game has evolved for everyone.

It's still physical but in a different way. It's taxing but with a different style. I don't think the cumulative effect takes the same toll on your body, which allows you to extend your career. Before, you might run yourself into the ground.

Yeah, I hadn't even thought about the physicality from that perspective – how playing further out is better for your body.

I think that's why you see so many guys having success now. If you can figure out how to make an open jump shot, it sounds simple, but it's still not that complicated. If you can master that and check the other boxes, there’s a role for you on a lot of teams. You can help in so many ways just by adding that skill to your game.

Why do you think players today aren’t playing as consistently or logging as many games as you did early in your career, when guys would push through 70-plus games, including the playoffs?

SH: I think the load management bullsh*t has finally has finally gotten to bump at least as far as I understand it, but I just remember coming into a league like guys making it a point of pride to play 82 games and I fortunately was able to do it once. I think the culture was different. There’s probably the easiest answer for it where that was something that you really take pride in. I think that that culture shifted probably starting with the organizations and I think was well-intentioned.

It's funny, you always hear the argument from people asking why you play every game. But for me, it's like, well, there's a kid whose dad saved up money to come watch me play, and I don't want to let that kid down. I always thought that was a pretty solid argument, and I never really gave it too much more thought.

I remember last year, one of my best friends, Mitch Johnson, who coaches for the Spurs, was playing Portland. A bunch of us went down to see the game, and leading up to it, we were all excited, wondering about Victor Wembanyama, "Is he playing? I want to see what this guy looks like in person." When we got there, he did a couple of those insane moves, like that "go-go gadget" Space Jam thing, where his foot landed before he even dunked the ball. It was wild – something I’d never seen or even imagined before.

I turned to my buddy and said, "I think he traveled there, but how do you even officiate something like that?" It was just unreal.

Sorry for the tangent, but yeah, it's those moments where you realize how incredible it is to see certain players in person, and you don’t want to miss out on that.

Who are like the like five guys you say that are the most fun for you to watch currently?

SH: My All-League Pass team?

Yeah.

SH: Ja [Morant]'s always one of the first stops in the 3000 channels, you know, on a Monday night during the during the season.

I love watching Wemby [Victor Wembanyama] and his development. I'm worried for the U.S. Olympics, he is going to be around a while and I don't even know if we can really comprehend what his ceiling might end up being like.

Paolo [Banchero] is a kid from Seattle. Obviously, we got a chance to work with a lot together. So it's it's fun to track him and his development and impact.

I still love watching KD [Kevin Durant]. That's one of my buddies from back in the day you days. It's still a ton of fun watching him.

Ant [Anthony Edwards]. I love him and I think his game is attitude. He kind of reminds me of a guy that was raised in a kind of 90s/early 2000s era. Love his attitude.

How's it feel to see like the Northwest representation throughout the NBA?

SH: Oh, it's awesome. Before I got to the league, it was a point of pride. I think there was a stretch in my early years where I think out of the Seattle high schools, we had like close to 10 guys in the league at once. I think it is it is something that's a point of pride for all of us. You know, kind of get picked into one of the runs with all the pros now. All the way on the other end of it.

I think we have a unique culture of the older generation looking out for the younger generation and passing out as many tricks to trade along as we can and obviously now is carrying the torch for us and a lot more in the pipeline a lot of guys that I have played with against our kids growing up and they're knocking on the door. So it's it's a lot of fun. It's a shared responsibility. We all feel for that next generation and we just need to get back to kind of tie a bow on it.

What are you doing now post-retirement?

SH: I've gone into real estate development as a daily job, I guess. My family actually has a winery in Eastern Washington, Reynvaan Family Vineyards, and I got involved at the end of last year, I think officially as a partner in that and so that's a lot of fun, you know, obviously completely different pivot than basketball.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Spencer Hawes: 'It was a point of pride to play 82 games'