Take 22 Podcast with Anton Watson (episode 2): A conversation about poster dunks, Kennel noise and Super Bowl snacks, capped by a Watson family reunion
From staff reports
For Anton Watson, it’s always been about family.
Whether it’s his childhood buddies, his Gonzaga basketball teammates or his actual family.
On Monday night, Watson welcomed his dad, Deon Sr., and his big brother, Deon Jr., to join him on the second episode of his podcast, “Take 22,” now streaming at www.spokesman.com.
They talk about the pressures, if any, for Anton to follow his dad and brother to the University of Idaho, where Deon Sr. was a star basketball player in the early 1990s and Deon Jr. was a standout receiver on the football team 20 years later. “We all try to talk about having our own path,” Deon Jr. said of Anton’s decision to go to GU.
And they also talk a little trash.
Podcast co-host and S-R reporter Theo Lawson: “What does it look like when you guys played 1-on-1 in the driveway back at home? Anton, how old were you when you finally got your dad in a 1-on-1 game?”
Anton: “I think it was probably around middle school. He had some injuries, too, so I’ll give him that, but …”
Deon Sr.: “You didn’t get me in middle school. You probably got me more like … I remember! I remember … So (Anton’s former Gonzaga Prep teammate) Sam Lockett and bunch of us put a game together. I think (G-Prep assistant football coach) Dominic DeCaro, all of us, are like, ‘Let’s play these guys.’ And we went over and played a bunch of Gonzaga Prep guys, and that’s when I knew I couldn’t guard him anymore.”
Anton: “Man, it was before that! I ain’t gonna lie!”
Later, Deon Jr. and Deon Sr. get a little more serious and talk about Anton as a little brother and son, and how much they enjoy watching him on the court.
Beyond the family reunion, Watson touches on a little bit of everything, from the Super Bowl, to last week’s wins over San Francisco and BYU, and the upcoming trip to Southern California to play Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
Among the other highlights from the second episode:
On his go-to Super Bowl snack: “I’d probably say pizza, especially on the Super Bowl, I think pizza is a good option. Especially Papa Murphy’s!”
On his poster dunk over USF’s Isaiah Hawthorne on Thursday: “That definitely ranks pretty high on my (list of) dunks, just because the energy after. The fans were going crazy, I started yelling and Drew (Timme) threw the perfect pass and just set me up … I would say if you make contact in the air, it’s pretty much a poster dunk. He went body to body, so yeah. It happens, though. I’ve been dunked on before, so it happens.”
On the Kennel’s influence in Saturday’s win over BYU: “Anytime we’re in the Kennel, playing a team like BYU – we have that rivalry – we know they’re going to bring the energy. It was a close game so everyone was on their feet at the end of the game. Once Julian hit a couple 3s, we got a couple stops, it was just like you could feel it. I had goosebumps.”
On the upcoming trip to Southern California and a Thursday rematch with LMU, which snapped Gonzaga’s 76-game home win streak last month: “They’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of experience with their point guard (Cam Shelton), (forward Keli) Leaupepe, and they’ve got a big guy (Rick Issanza) in the post who’s about 7 feet. They’ve got all the weapons and they obviously … want to beat us again. We’ve just got to bring whole focus and just lock in.”
Catch the entire second episode at www.spokesman.com/podcasts/take-22/. It’s also available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts.