{"id":511844,"date":"2026-08-26T23:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=511844"},"modified":"2026-08-26T23:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:24:22","slug":"juancho-hernangomez-on-his-contract-extension-with-panathinaikos-till-2031-it-was-the-best-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/juancho-hernangomez-on-his-contract-extension-with-panathinaikos-till-2031-it-was-the-best-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Juancho Hernang\u00f3mez on his contract extension with Panathinaikos till 2031: It was the best decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Juancho Hernang\u00f3mez is entering a new chapter with Spain. The Panathinaikos forward, who serves as the national team\u2019s vice-captain, is preparing for the 2027 World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Greece while also taking on a leadership role around Spain\u2019s emerging prospects, including Aday Mara, Hugo Gonz\u00e1lez and Baba Miller.<\/p>\n

Speaking from Spain\u2019s training camp in Zaragoza to \u2018El Programa de Ortega\u2019<\/strong><\/a>, Hernang\u00f3mez discussed the national team\u2019s transition, the difficult experience at the last EuroBasket, his long-term future with Panathinaikos and the arrival of Zeljko Obradovic.<\/p>\n

Hernang\u00f3mez excited by Spain\u2019s young talent<\/h2>\n

The veteran forward is looking forward to sharing the national team environment with the latest generation of Spanish prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to playing with them. I\u2019ve known them for years and seeing how they have developed… they come with a lot of desire and I think the national team looks very good for the coming years. They have a lot of talent, they are good people and they compete,\u201d Hernang\u00f3mez said.<\/p>\n

Spain is now beginning a new cycle following its disappointing group-stage exit at the last EuroBasket and the conclusion of Sergio Scariolo\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned from the last EuroBasket\u201d<\/h2>\n

Despite the disappointment, Hernang\u00f3mez believes the tournament provided valuable lessons for the team and for the players involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou suffer, but it wasn\u2019t one of the worst moments I\u2019ve had in my career. You learn from everything. I think it was a championship to learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

The forward also recalled conversations with Rudy Fern\u00e1ndez and Sergio Llull after Spain\u2019s elimination, emphasizing the importance of experiencing difficult moments during a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky enough to arrive, touch the sky and win, but when we lost, talking to Rudy and Llull, they told me that the difficult part is that: starting, learning, allowing young players to gain experience. Nothing happens, you learn from everything. You have to live through the bad experiences, and to enjoy the good ones you have to go through difficult moments. We have learned from it and now we have a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Hernang\u00f3mez chose to remain at Panathinaikos<\/h2>\n

Hernang\u00f3mez also addressed his decision to continue with Panathinaikos despite receiving interest from other clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have found a place where I am very happy. The way they live basketball… the first year was very difficult, but we won everything and when you win there, you make history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship he has built with the club and its supporters played a major role in his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very loved and appreciated. I had one year left on my contract, I did have offers from other teams and I think Panathinaikos would have let me leave, but I think the best thing was to continue there long-term, feeling very loved by the fans, the owner and the coach. It is a decision I really liked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernang\u00f3mez looking forward to working with Obradovic<\/h2>\n

The next stage of his Panathinaikos career will see Hernang\u00f3mez work under Zeljko Obradovic, who has returned to the Athens club after more than a decade.<\/p>\n

The Spanish forward understands the enormous expectations surrounding the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the pressure we live with at Panathinaikos. We sign the best of the best and it is not enough for us to reach a final, we have to go for titles. They live it that way, betting strongly on the best available players and winning. We have no other option.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hernang\u00f3mez, however, Obradovic\u2019s arrival is also an opportunity to learn from one of European basketball\u2019s most accomplished coaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey brought Obradovic, who is a legend. He has won the EuroLeague there six times and I\u2019m really looking forward to learning from him. I spoke with him before my renewal. I like learning from the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernang\u00f3mez still dreams of retiring at Estudiantes<\/h2>\n

Hernang\u00f3mez began his professional career with Estudiantes before eventually moving to the NBA and then continuing his career in Europe with Panathinaikos.<\/p>\n

His connection with the Madrid club remains strong, and he still has a clear idea of how he would like his career to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always said that I would like to return to Estudiantes and retire where everything started, but in the end life changes a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A return to Estudiantes would therefore represent his ideal ending, although Hernang\u00f3mez knows his career has already taken him places he never expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it would be a dream ending, but I never expected to play in Greece and feel so loved,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spain\u2019s vice-captain discusses the national team\u2019s new generation, the lessons from the last EuroBasket and his decision to stay in Athens. \u201cI want to learn from the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":511843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199,249,369,383],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-511844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-greece","category-national-teams","category-world-cup"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/Juancho-Hernangomez-FIBA.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511844"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=511844"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=511844"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=511844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}