Jonas Valanciunas may no longer be with the Toronto Raptors but he surely left quite an impression on head coach Nick Nurse. Apparently, one of his former coach's fondest memories of JV is the time they went fishing together in Valenciunas' native of Lithuania.
As it turns out, JV is really, really into fishing. Nurse took a quick stroll down memory lane as he shared his experience with Valanciunas in the open sea:
“I have never seen a guy so happy when he was reeling in a fish,” Nurse said, via Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. “So intense, so excited. I just told him next year when we're out on the floor I'm going to tell you to rebound like it's a fish.”
For what it's worth, Valanciunas is currently averaging a career-best 12.3 rebounds per game with the Memphis Grizzlies. Perhaps Nurse's unique motivational approach worked wonders for JV, except that he is no longer with the Raptors. Unfortunately for him, he left Toronto months before the team bagged the 2019 title.
In case you needed some proof, here are a couple of photos of Valanciunas with a prized catch:
JV absolutely looks the part of a deep-sea fisherman. It seems like he's pretty skilled, too. Noobs don't haul in fish that are that big.
If ever he gets tired of playing in the NBA, it looks like Valanciunas has a career in fishing to fall back on. Or at least now we know what the Grizzlies big man is going to be doing with his time once he calls it a career.