Perhaps you’re not aware yet, but the most successful Argentinian basketball player not named Manu is a Phoenix Sun now. He has a new team, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be seeing anything different from Argentina’s most efficient forward. He’s still featuring some crafty post play, a “soft as a pillow” touch around the rim, and the occasional floppy-haired finish on a fast break.
We spoke with Luis Scola at his new home in Phoenix about the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the differences between the Euro game (where he spent seven seasons in Spain) and the NBA, the ambivalence of Scola’s countrymen towards soccer God, Lionel Messi, running into a former soccer teammate in his native Argentina and more.
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Dime: So we just checked your Twitter feed, and it looks like you just got Call of Duty: Black Ops 2?
Luis Scola: (chuckling) Yeah, I just got it an hour ago.
Dime: Nice. Do you spend a lot of time playing Call of Duty? Do you play with your kids?
LS: My kids are too young to play. For them, I have the kids games. I don’t let them play the Playstation too much. So I tried [the Call of Duty], but after they did the upgrade and loaded and all that, [the kids] just got home. So I didn’t really get a chance to play it, and I’m gonna wait a little bit before getting to it tonight. I do play when I have time, like an hour a day or an hour every two days. I like it.
Dime: Is it the only type of video game you play? Like do you play any basketball games?
LS: I used to play a lot of NBA 2K, but I don’t play much anymore. Most of the time when I play, it’s either Call of Duty or probably some soccer. I’ll play sporting games with the kids, but when I play by myself, I play Call of Duty or things like that.
Dime: When we play, we do the multiplayer mode with friends, so how do you play? Do you go online or anything?
LS: I think the most fun is when you play it with somebody you know. But in Argentina, there aren’t a lot of people that play Call of Duty. They play soccer or basketball or one of the sports games. So I really don’t have a lot of players to play the game with. In the NBA, most of the guys play Xbox, and I have the PS3. So I really don’t play with friends. I just go online and play with strangers, which I think is a little bit less fun. Hopefully I can get a couple friends to play Call of Duty, which would be a lot more fun.
Dime: You don’t have any Suns teammates that play Call of Duty?
LS: For sure. I know Jared Dudley plays, and I know coach Majerle plays. I’ve only been here a couple months, so I didn’t really talk to them about it too much. They play Xbox, so maybe I’ll have to start playing Xbox.
Dime: Well the Xbox and PS3 controllers are different, so that might throw you off a little bit.
LS: I have an Xbox from when I went to watch Call of Duty, and they sent me a copy. I’m just used to the PS3 control. Most of the people play the Xbox, but I’m used to playing with the PS3 and once you starting playing a specific way, it’s difficult to change.
Dime: How are things going in Phoenix. Have you found a home or a spot to spend the season?
LS: Yeah, I have a house, and I’ve got my whole family completely settled here in Phoenix. Yeah, I’m happy. I think it’s a good place. I’m having fun. We’re trying to win some games, we lost a couple games in the beginning of the season, and I wish we hadn’t, but I think we’re going to have a good team. The city’s great. The weather is awesome. I’m happy here, and hopefully we’ll have a good team and everything will be awesome.
Dime: On that note, you won last night and you guys looked good. You opened the season really well. Do you think you’re a legitimate playoff threat?
LS: Actually I do. For most of the games, except one – the Miami game – we’ve played well for three quarters, and then, for some reason, we lost concentration and we didn’t come back. We lost two that we could have won. I think we need to work on being more consistent. Do what we need to do for 48 minutes. But that takes time because of maturity. We need to mature as a team because we have a lot of young players playing together. I think it will take some time to get there, but once we do, we’ll be a good team. I think we’re gonna be good, it’s just a matter of how fast we’re gonna be good.
Dime: It’s a lot of new teammates and a new city in Phoenix. We know you’re 32, Luis, but this is just your sixth NBA season. You’re one of the oldest players on the team. Are you looking to be a leader in the locker room?
LS: Well being older always puts you a position where you’re more respected and [you’re] listened to more as a teammate. I am, like you say, the second-oldest player on the team. And yeah, it’s a big deal for a professional to do the right thing, and being a leader, leading by example. I think a little bit, I’m trying to do that on the court too, and we can make it a winning team. But yes, every year that goes by, I’m a little bit older than the guys. The guys that come into the NBA are young. So, there are guys on the team that are 10-11 years younger than me, so there is definitely a role for me, to do the right thing and be a veteran.
Dime: That must be strange for you, to be with guys that much younger…
LS: It is what it is. I hope to play for a few more years, so the more I play the more the difference will be with the new players coming in.
Dime: You’re still young though. You had played overseas for seven years in Spain. How would you compare playing in the Euroleague versus playing in the NBA?
LS: There is a very high talent level in the NBA, and there’s also a very high level of athleticism. The Euroleague is ultra competitive and it’s a lot of fun to play there; it was a good experience. But I think one of the biggest differences between the two of them is the rules. The guys in the NBA are more athletic and more talented and bigger. The rules allow the paint to always be clear and the court is more open. In Europe… the lane is a lot more clogged. It’s a lot more difficult to move stations. I think the rules make a big difference between the two leagues and the style of players makes the style of play a lot more different too. But both leagues know how to play.
Dime: We’ve always noticed you have a ton of low post moves. Growing up, we know you hadn’t played organized ball until you were 15, so what did you do to develop the skills that a lot of big guys don’t have?
LS: Well, I always played basketball and I never really played any other sports. I’m not very athletic, so I had to find a way to be productive. The only way it worked for me was to try a lot of moves and try to work on the touch of my outside shot. Just try to make up for the athleticism I don’t have. I’m 32, so I’m not going to change the way I play, it’s what I do. I’m happy with the results and I’ll continue to play that way. It’s the best way for me to be productive. If I try and out-run them or out-jump them, I’m gonna lose, so I might as well try something different.
Dime: We think you’ve been more than successful, but we did notice you seem to antagonize guys and get under their skin. Is that something you do on purpose, to try and irritate your opponents?
LS: No, I never try anything on anybody. I just play hard. I – actually – I don’t like it. Games where there’s a confrontation physically, I don’t like it; I try and avoid it at all costs. I need to play hard because it’s the best way for me to succeed and sometimes, you know, you just get tangled up, but I don’t like it.
Dime: Now, when you left Argentina at 18, you went and played overseas professionally. You’ve talked in the past about how it was sort of a maturing experience for you. Can you tell Dime readers what that was like: to play in a different country at the professional level, but when you’re 18 and by yourself?
LS: Well it was kinda strange, both on the court and off the court. I like Spain a lot, but it was tough at first. The first couple years in another country were hard. It was a great time also because it made me more mature and more prepared. It taught me how to make hard decisions and sometimes it teaches me the hard way, but it was good for me as a person. And then I get to play in the Euroleague at an early age and that makes me a better player, too. I played there almost 10 years, and I think it made me a better player. Right now, I’m very happy that I played there for so many years. I think it made me a better player, a better person and I have great memories from it.
Dime: Well, speaking of overseas, what was it like winning a gold medal? Do you ever bring the gold medal into the locker room to show guys?
LS: No, I think some of the guys don’t know. They were like 13 or 14 when I won it [Eds. note: he won it in 2004]. I don’t even have it with me in Phoenix. I have it at home in Argentina. I think it’s the highest sports award a person can get, you know. An Olympic gold medal, there’s nothing really higher than that. There isn’t anything as important as an Olympic event. I’m blessed to have a chance to compete and compete at a high level and to live the experience. The whole experience, not just the playing. Especially, like for the person that’s outside the playing. That’s what makes it special, the fact it’s a big deal to the people watching and when we win and celebrate, or we lose and people chew us out and really the whole thing is just great. I’m lucky to have done it three times [2004, 2008, 2012], and I’m only 32 now. I think I could play one more. And the next one is closer to my house. So, who knows.
Dime: Yeah, well you still have a few productive years left in the NBA, I think you could play in 2016.
LS: Four Olympics would be very big. Very few people were actually able to play in four Olympics. Actually, for basketball in our country, we’ve only played six Olympics, so to have played in four of them, would be a really great thing. But, there are a lot of things that have to happen. Four years is a long time. We still need to qualify… and another good thing about the next Olympics is they’re in Rio [Brazil], which is right next to Argentina. I might have a chance to get family and friends to watch the games, so I’m definitely looking forward to the chance to play, but again, a lot of things have to happen, and I really don’t know what’s going to happen in four years.
Dime: Speaking of Argentina, why do you think your fellow countrymen don’t seem to embrace Lionel Messi as much as say, Maradona? And with that, do you get recognized more in Argentina, or in America?
LS: You’re talking about Messi?
Dime: Well, it’s a two-part question: One, why isn’t Messi embraced as much in your country, and two, where are you more recognized, in Argentina or the States?
LS: Well, when I was in Europe, I was much more recognized there then in Argentina. And that goes along with the fact most of the European games aren’t broadcast in Argentina. That’s just the way it was. But when I went to the NBA, the NBA was much more popular in Argentina, so people started to know me more and more. But actually, the people in Argentina only care about the National Team. You know, like all the things you do with your local team, that’s great, and they watch and like you, but you gotta do it for the National Team. So the fact I played all those years with the National Team, it makes my popularity there [Argentina] grow a lot. And what happened with Messi, I think, is he was doing such amazing things with Barcelona, but he never really got a chance to do it for the National Team. And I don’t think it’s his fault, and I don’t think it’s fair, but people will question him. It’s crazy, Argentina is the only place in the world where people will question Messi. People are very attached to soccer here, and I think it’s a little unfair. I don’t like it, but people question what he does for the National Team. He does it in Barcelona, but the only thing they care about what you do, or the only thing that makes a difference is what you do for the National Team. So that helps me, in terms of growing my popularity there, and I think it hurt Messi, a little bit.
Dime: Yeah, it’s like no one cares until he wins a World Cup.
LS: He doesn’t want to work out with them, there will always be that, which I don’t think is fair. The Argentinian, especially the soccer fans, are difficult. It’s not easy, but when they love you, they love you forever, but it’s a very demanding crowd.
Dime: So growing up, you said you didn’t really play any sports, but did you play any soccer, since it’s so big in Argentina?
LS: Well it’s Argentina, you have to play a little soccer. You really have to because everybody plays soccer and watches soccer, so you sorta have to play. But I played for like, probably half a year when I was seven or eight years old. And actually, this is sort of a funny story. I played for a team with one of those Boys and Girls clubs, or something like that, and I really liked it. The coach put me at goalkeeper, and I thought it was awesome. I was there every day, and I got my gloves, and I was really excited. Then one day, maybe a half year after or a couple months after, another teenager came that had a little more experience playing goalie. So the coach said he was going to be the keeper and he put me in the defense line. And that day, when he put me on the defensive line, I went back home, and told my mom I didn’t want to play anymore. And I never went back. That was my life as a soccer player. I really liked basketball, but I just played soccer because everyone played soccer.
Dime: I noticed that the guys that played soccer as kids have better footwork. Do you think that helped you when you started playing basketball?
LS: I’m not sure. I know that Hakeem Olajuwon was a soccer goalie and became a really nice post player, but I don’t think that was my case. But it could be. You gotta have great footwork to play soccer; I mean, that’s all you have to have, or else you can’t play soccer. Yeah, I think that there’s a correlation. Like if you play soccer, organized soccer, you’ll have better footwork, I just don’t think it was my case.
Dime: I wonder what happened to the goalie that replaced you?
LS: I have no idea, but funny story. Like 20 something years after, one guy ran into me in my neighborhood in Argentina. And he said, “Hey, I’m this guy,” and I was like “Who are you?” And he said, “I played with you,” and he was one of the guys that played with me when I was a little kid. It was funny. I didn’t remember him because it was so long ago, but he did remember me. He said, “I didn’t know who you were, but I remember a tall guy and I was talking to someone that said you played basketball, and I found out who you were.” But he remembered me as the tall guy he played soccer with back then. It was funny, but I met him a couple years ago, like 20 years after we played soccer together, so that was pretty funny. But I have no idea what happened to that goalkeeper.
Dime: Were you pretty tall throughout your childhood, or did you sprout up at a certain age?
LS: I was always very tall, and then there was one year when I was 12 or 11 or something like that, and that one year was when I really, really grew. Like wow I grew like 14 or 15 cm in one year. So like an inch is three centimeters, so I grew like five or six inches in one year. And I got really big. I had to change all my wardrobe, all my shoes, I had to throw everything away. My back was hurting, my knees were hurting, and that happened in one year when I became really big and tall. I was always tall, but that year I became really tall.
Dime: So when did you realize that you were going to be a professional basketball player?
LS: I played basketball since I was little, and my dad used to play semi-pro basketball. I was tiny and I used to play basketball with him. At first, it’s like a lot of kids’ dream, and it was like that for me. But at some point, I grew more than everyone else and [started] moving a little better than most of the kids that were my size. But when I was 13 or 14, scouts from the professional leagues in Argentina started looking at me. And they started calling for me to play for their team, and I was really young. So at that point, my dad started thinking that this might be a real thing, and it might be a way I can make a living. By the year 1995, when I was 15, the Argentinian Under-19 National Team called me to play in the World Championships in Greece. I made the team three years younger than everyone else, so at that point I knew I was gonna be a basketball player. I didn’t know at what level yet, but I knew I was gonna be a player. A couple years after that I was already playing in the professional league. So, it was pretty fast.
Dime: When you went to Spain for that year, they had you playing for their second division team.
LS: They loaned me to another team. Yeah, they signed me to a long contract, then loaned – you see in Europe, and in Spain especially, back then when I was playing, you could only play two foreigners per team. So there are only two players and the rest of the team has to be national players. So, at that point, they loaned me to the second division team to play as one of their foreigners, and a couple years later, I became a Spanish citizen, and I got to play not as a foreigner and that makes a big difference, so I got to play for their first division team.
Dime: So you had to play as a Spanish citizen?
LS: No, I played the first two years as a foreigner, then became a Spanish citizen and it just makes it easier since you can’t have more than two foreigners playing for you at once.
Dime: Do you still have a dual citizenship?
LS: Yup, I still do.
Dime: Do you still travel over there to visit?
LS: Yeah, one of my cousins is over there. One of them is American too. Yeah, I’m like the UN. (laughs)
Dime: About that Argentinian team that won the gold medal in 2004, do you still stay in touch with those guys?
LS: Oh yeah, we played together last summer at the Olympics in London. Most of them. Some of the guys from the 2004 team are retired and not on the team anymore, but we always stay in touch and we have a great relationship.
Dime: I’ll bet. Well there aren’t many people that can say they’ve won a gold medal, so-
LS: Well that was the first gold medal for Argentina in 53 years, so-
Dime: Oh really!
LS: We won one in 1952 and the next one was in 2004. It’s crazy. And that same day that we won in 2004, we won a second. So after 53 years, we won two: soccer and basketball. And yeah, the Argentinian team for soccer won that year, and then in 2008 in Beijing. They won two in a row.
Dime: So we know you’re quite new still to this Suns team. You know Goran Dragic from your time in Houston together, but have you gone out with any of your other teammates? What’s it like in Phoenix now?
LS: I like Goran a lot. I played with him for a year and half, and he’s a great player. I have great teammates. I’m starting to know the guys, and I like them. It’s a good team, and fun. The players are really cool. There’s a lot of young players on the team, which is fine with me, and I like it. You know we’re going to grow closer and closer as the year goes by, but it’s fun. It’s fun to play for the Suns.
Can the Suns make the playoffs this year?
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