Undersized center John Nebo is arguably one of the best newcomers in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season, thrilling fans of Zalgiris Kaunas with his highlight-reel dunks and blocks. But for this 25-year-old, second-year pro, basketball was not his first sport.
Josh Nebo, Zalgiris: 'Skateboarding teaches you perseverance'
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"For me, growing up, skateboarding was very big in my life. Skateboarding was just fun for me, I was just able to get out of the house and go hang out with friends, be creative and just do something that's not kind of normal. So it was very big for me growing up," he says. "The thing I miss the most about skateboarding is just being able to be outside all day with friends. Whenever I skateboarded, I would be outside all day with my friends, just at skate parks, at stores or just wherever. Just being a kid."
Nebo decided to choose basketball over skateboarding for two main reasons. He became too big for the board and his older sister Kim was a really good basketball player at Southern Illinois University.
"Basketball started to become like a bigger thing in my life, then eventually skateboarding kind of phased out."
"I think it was a combination of both. I think I started to outgrow the skateboard a little bit and then like basketball started to become like a bigger thing in my life, then eventually skateboarding kind of phased out," Nebo says. "In high school, every year, I pretty much grew two inches every year from freshman year to senior year. So obviously, skateboarding at 6-foot-9 would be very difficult."
Meanwhile, his sister, three years older than Josh, was getting better and better at basketball, progressing to average 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in 28 NCAA games in the 2016-17 campaign, her last at university. By then, Josh was playing at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. He names-check Kim as his big inspiration in basketball.
"She's probably the reason why I started playing basketball, just being able to watch her," he says. "I watched her develop, watched her perform and watched how successful she was growing up. It really inspired me to pursue basketball as well."
Playing against his sister helped Nebo improve as a player and, eventually, he fell in love with the sport. He learned from her intensity on the court and came to play the same way, as Zalgiris fans can attest.
"Growing up, we played against each other all the time. We played a lot and my sister would kill me all the time. She would destroy me!" he laughs. "I'd go inside mad and crying to my mom."
"We played a lot and my sister would kill me all the time. She would destroy me! I'd go inside mad and crying to my mom."
Nonetheless, he gives Kim a lot of credit for his basketball journey.
"From Kim, the biggest basketball lesson I probably learned is just hard work and determination. She's probably one of the most hard-working and determined people that I've seen when it comes to basketball and just life in general," he added. "So that's something that, for sure, I definitely took from her."
What he learned from skateboarding, Nebo says, is the mental strength to fall down repeatedly, but to keep getting up again and again.
"There's a lot of failures in skateboarding. You try new tricks, you try new moves, and you fall a bunch of times before you finally get it," he recalls. "So I think skateboarding teaches you perseverance in life."
Skateboarding is still big for Nebo, but mainly as a fan. "From time to time, I still like watching on YouTube or TV, but in terms of actually doing it, I can't right now. It's just too risky for me," Nebo said. "Being able to watch kids at skate parks is something that I enjoy."
And while Kim remains among Nebo's "biggest supporters", his sister is also quick to joke that had it not been for her, Nebo might still be rolling around on a skateboard and wouldn't have found basketball, let alone become a pro.
"She takes all the credit," he laughs. "Still, to this day."