Brazilian Born Utah Jazz Point Guard Shares Some of The Incredible Journey that Led Him to Utah & the NBA

 

 

Guest Bio:

Over the past 35 years, Scott C. Keller has become one of the largest single-private apartment owners in the Western

Raul "Raulzinho" Togni Neto is a Brazilian professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also a member of the senior men's Brazilian national basketball team.

 

Neto made his professional debut in 2008 with Minas Tênis Clube during the 2008–09 FIBA Americas League. He played a further three seasons for Minas and even represented the World Team at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit.

 

After averaging 12.6 points and 2.2 assists per game as a sixth man for Minas in 2010–11, Neto signed with Lagun Aro GBC of Spain for the 2011–12 season. After averaging 8.5 points and 2.9 assists per game during the 2012–13 season with Lagun Aro, Neto was selected with the 47th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He was later traded to the Utah Jazz on draft night. However, he did not join the Jazz and instead returned to Lagun Aro for the 2013–14 season.

 

On August 1, 2014, Neto signed a three-year deal with UCAM Murcia. He parted ways with the club following the 2014–15 season in order to sign in the NBA.

 

On July 9, 2015, Neto signed with the Utah Jazz.   He made his debut for the Jazz in the team's season opener against the Detroit Pistons on October 28, 2015, recording 8 points and 3 assists as a starter in a 92–87 loss. On January 27, 2016, Neto was selected to the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge as a member of the World Team. On February 19, 2016, he scored a season-high 15 points in a 111–93 win over the Boston Celtics. On January 9, 2017, he spent a day with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah's D-League affiliate. He was reassigned to Salt Lake City on January 11, 2017, and then recalled the next day. He played 9 of 11 matches of the Jazz during the playoffs.

 

On July 6, 2018, Neto re-signed with the Jazz.

 

 

Show Notes

 

• Introduction (1:53)

• What is it like playing with the other guys on the Jazz (2:13)
• What are Raul's favorite places to eat in Utah (3:40)
• What was it like growing up in Brazil for Raul (4:17)
• Playing with the National Team as a young kid (6:40)
• What Raul misses most about leaving Brazil (7:15)
• Raul on having strong family and country ties (8:38)
• Who was Raul's favorite NBA Player growing up (10:10)
• How Raul found out that the Jazz planned to draft him (13:06)
• What Raul thinks of Utah and what he likes to do (15:59)
• Raul's first experience with Lake Powell (16:30)
• Resigning with the Utah Jazz this year (19:11)
• Dealing with injuries and how to keep going (20:29)