On this edition of Orlando Magic Pod Squad, we catch up with Magic big Man Goga Batasee as we introduce him to the Orlando Magic fan base. A little backstory of where he came from, a little insight into his country of Georgia, How proud he is of his Georgian roots, what got him into his love of basketball, eventually coming over to the United States, getting drafted by the Pacers, and now this incredible opportunity that he has with the
Orlando Magic. And remember, Orlando Magic Pod Squad is brought to you by the Florida Department of Transportation. Reminds you that fans don't let fans drive drunk. If you've been drinking, don't get behind the wheel. Instead, find a sober driver or catch a ride service. Remember, drive sober or get pulled over, Have a great night and drive safe. So much to get into, including my favorite story, the Green Goblets. On this edition of Magic Pod Squad with gogabatase.
Does his spawns of Wogno Orlando Magic. This is cole Anthy Missus Jennings Suggs. This is Paula Man Carroll the Orlando Magic and you're listening to the pod Squad.
And welcome everyone to the latest installment of Orlando Magic Pod Squad. Dante Marcatelli, Jake Chapman, George Galate and we're joined by Magic Big Man Go Go Bitase kind of enough to join us, the eighteenth overall pick in twenty nineteen in his second year with the Orlando Magic and go guy. I bet you don't know what to do with yourself with three days off here without a game. This has been finally you had a little bit of a break in the schedule. How have you been enjoying the last few days.
Yeah, it's been an unusual you know, you get three days between games, like it feel it's kind of kind of odd, kind of weird. But at the same time we get to, you know, relax a little bit. You know, this season only so long and so heavy scheduled that you don't really get so much rest. So we got the rest yesterday today we had the great, great practice, you know, man. Yeah, usually just also take some time
off talk with family friends back home. The timing is off, so yeah, trying to spend as much time as I can with them during during the days off. So it's pretty good then, I guess we're gonna have fresh bodies, people who's kind of bag banged up. So the time is the extra two three days is really gonna help us.
Have you seen a schedule like this since you been? I know it's I know its your fifth season in the NBA, but if you do, you remember seeing as crazy and as much travel and long trips like we've had to start this year.
Yeah, it's so crazy that sometimes I don't even know where we're going, Like I just like, how good?
Just meet here?
Yeah? Up on the play Ben, I'm asking like, oh, where we're going, and all of a sudden they hit us with the oh, it's a five hour flight. In four hour flight? Oh man? But uh, I mean we are blessed. It's basketball, you know, this is here. We've
been doing this, all of us since we're kids. So the most more it is like also like you have bad games and the next one is like day after or the next day, and then you get to go back at it and refresh your mind, mindset, You refresh your mind and it's hard, but we're we're pretty blessed to have this opportunity. How we travel as well, like it's easier so we can't really complain.
Go go what's what's the time difference between here.
At home right now is nine hours?
They're nine hours?
So that so does so? Does it?
Is it hard to catch up with family or or or you just have to budget your time accordingly to make sure, you know, you know, when you can catch whoever you're trying to get hold of.
Yeah, man, it's hard. It's it's really hard because obviously in my family, like they have things to do as well, so like it's kind of hard for both of us or all of us at the same time to be you know, free and have time. But they really make it easy for me. Know, sometimes they stay up late just just to talk, just just talk with me, and uh, either sometimes I call them late or they call me early before practice. It's hard, but uh, it's been it's
been five years. Kind of adjusting, well, we all adjusted to that. And also not a lot happening, you know, like I can't talk to them every single day. Now a lot happening. They see play. They know I'm healthy, that's all that matters. So uh yeah, man, kind of got used to this.
How do they catch your game? How do they catch your games? Is it take deway do they do. They get lead pass and try to watch you live. I mean they probably can't watch you live worked, yeah, and now all.
The games because it's so late it's hell out there. But in the morning, you know, like when we finish games, it's kind of it's kind of early in the morning there. So they wake up early see that either how how we did, how the team did, how I did that. I'm healthy and that's pretty much. It's so many games that I can discuss all the games in my family, you know, so either they wake up early or stay once in a while to watch the game, but they're not watching all the games. I don't want them to
watch all the games. They got to get their splitper Yeah. You spend most of your off season back on.
Uh.
Yeah, the last couple of seasons. Uh, it's a bit rough, you know, with national team as well, a lot going on. For my first two years, I was trying to be over here. I was in the Indie most of the time, you know, as your rookie kind of getting adjusting into the league, you need more time to be out here. But right now that I've you know, I'm matured, I've grown most of the time I'm trying to stay home. You know, I got all my friends, all the people
out there. I mean there's stuff to do as well, help my family with some things, you know, and also me being around them just they really miss it. I miss being around family just like not doing anything, just being out there. So that's the most refreshing thing I can do. So usually I'm out there most of the summer.
I had a whole bunch of questions about Georgia, but I don't think we have time to get through all of them. But I'll just ask you, what do you miss most, non family, not non non personal things.
Is it?
Is it a food? Is it a type of ditsh? What do you miss most from back home? It used to be food first couple of years, but now just the aura, like being around the people, like even going outside, see like hearing the Georgian language, you know, all around, hearing my language, just seeing the streets that I grew up in, seeing the buildings, you know, seeing the things changing, and just exploring because it's like you in one year, a lot can change and they're growing back and you're
not seeing all of it. Like and the Georgia is like really really beautiful, like a lot of mountains, a lot of a lot of good places to visit. It's a small country, but it's just so heavy loaded with like beautiful places. So, uh, just just being in my country.
I really love my country. So just being out there, the feeling that I get, the everything feels amazing, just even like with waking up with my you know, my mom being there, my on TV in there, and just even like gain in the morning coffee is just amazing, man, And uh yeah, that's that's those kind of moments that I love.
That he's used the word or a George. He's not from this country and he's got a better grasp of the language than you do.
Is that, there's no doubt about that.
It's amazing. What else can you tell us about about Georgia? And you know your now you start playing basketball, right, I imagine you probably didn't grow up watching a ton of NBA basketball, right, but uh, what what made you kind of want to go down that path? Did you play soccer? Did you play other sports? Tell us how you kind of started with basketball.
The first thing to ask me about Georgia, I always bring it up, like I'll be like, do you like wine? And they'd be like, oh, of course, I'll be like, yeah, we and invented the wine. We're the first country to make wine.
And I love Georgia, that's why I know it.
But we're the first country. They just found the roots of the oldest grape grape in Georgia, so we're we invented the wine. So I bring that up.
Everybody has sold, so I am sold.
Yeah, so is that is everybody else? Yeah?
Yeah, that's right. Well you got beautiful places. You got mound. You said, you're on the water. A lot of it's on the water, and there's so much history there. It looks like Goga.
Yeah, it's really old country as well, like huge history and you can't see like just so much. So much is now it's they're mixing with the you know, new things. They're adding new things obviously, and it's just it's just amazing. Every every teammate that they're telling me, oh, we come to Georgia, I'm like, yes, please, like just come. So I feel like I have like a hundred people coming to Georgia this summer. It's gotta be busy one but.
Now it's one hundred and three because we're covering.
Yes, you're always welcome. We're uh really huge you with our hospitality, like people really you know, love the tourists and the people from other countries, and if you come, you're gonna really enjoy it. So very yell. You asked another question right, well.
In basketball. So now you've got this beautiful country and I'm sure you know, I don't know how big it is sports and basketball in your country, but what kind of got you into that?
First of all, my dad used to play if First he started the wrestling ensemble. It's called the type of wrestling he was wrestling. Then he was a professional basketball player. And also my mom is really not really tall, but like tall for a lady, and my dad was six six six sixty seven, so I was tall from the beginning. I was a huge kid. So at first I started They put me into basketball like obviously it's your kid, you already understand it. The coach was really rough on us.
I did really enjoy it, you know, was on and off. Then I was playing bomb soccer for a little bit. They told me you're too tall, you can't do that. And at the end I stopped playing for a year, like some issues. You know. It was rough, and I remember my coach or coach came in my in my classroom because I was trying to hide from it, like and he was like, you have to come back this and that. So I came back slowly fell in love
with basketball. And also all my friends in the Wash that I really have and the friends with now, like we played in the same team, so they made it easy. We was a classmates as well, so they made it easy. And also my mom when I say this, but it was the rough times and home like in t pill c. Georgia. Not as rough as it was before, but it was rough. So like that basketball being the in the sports was was was better for me than I doing other things. So sure they really I guess that was a great
decision for me and my family. And uh uh shout out to my you know, my parents. You know, they really like pushed me. My mom and my dad really pushed me to play, and uh it really supported me. It was rough at times, but you know, building the struggle so didn't come along. Great, that's great. How long ago go?
Now it was when you came over when you got drafted and you got drafted by Indiana. Had you been to the States before? Was that your first time in the States.
First time that I got here was m b p A top hundred km uh, I don't remember where it was. Where it was, Yeah, that was the first time. And then I came back for pre draft that I did in New York, so that was pretty much first but first time that I was here m b p A. I did get to see whole lot. So the pre draft was actually the first time that I really get to see the culture and the kind of life everything.
I like to ask a lot of the guys that aren't from America, you know that we've had on the podcast or we've had just come through the halls here, that's got to be hard for an eighteen nineteen year old kid to I mean, you're not just leaving home, You're leaving your country. You're leaving everything behind to come under this stream of yours. I mean, how hard was that, you know, first year or even the second year. I mean, when did you finally start to just settle into to
being an NBA player and being away from home. That's got to be hard.
It is hard for people who hasn't done before. So who hasn't done it before, who hasn't been too that struggled before. But I left my country. I was fifteen turning sixteen. I went to play the in Serbia and I left my family, my friends, everybody. When I was fifteen, and it was like it's not like you get three or four months off during summer. It was all worth to practice is a day, every single day game and I was getting like a week off a year, like a week or ten days off, yeah, to get go
back home and see my family. And when you like it was three or four days during the New Year's and it was like a week or like ten days in some goodness. Yeah, so when you go during New Year, it's like three four days. You fly there, you jet legged, you're retired that day, you're losing that day, and you're there for two days. You have to see all the people, uh back go to it. I was. I was so used to it, and I knew I like I had
to do this. There was like no doubt in my mind that oh now I can like not do this or I was just I had so much people behind the you know, behind my back, like so much people I had to take care of so much you know people. Was I didn't believe I was that good, but like people always believed in me, always told me, like you were able to do it, like uh and all that. So there was no never really a doubt even when I got to Servius rough like fifteen year old kid
in different country, like you don't know, nobody struggling. So yeah, man, I mean, but also my family just I knew I had to do it and they never doubted me.
So yeah, you know, I think of that. That's when you met Dayon Milijovich, right, and I think about you mentioned the other day that he kind of helped raise you, and it makes sense you're fifteen, sixteen years old when you go over there and you meet it had to a bend like a father to you. And again we're all so sorry for the loss of day On. I know that that hits home for you, but just kind of tell us about that relationship.
Yeah, my first day I got here today, On was not my coach because he was with the first team, like the main team. Obviously I was fifteen, I was
not playing for him. But from the jump, like I used to go and like work out once a month with the older guys with the main team and like he would just he would be like really like paying attention and like I think like he was seeing like what I am right now, like way before and once I got to the first first team, let's let's call it that way, and I got to work with day on. It was every single day we was working on I don't know, just basic hook shots, basic basic things for
like hours hours like staying after practices. Obviously we we hated it because we had two breaks and then we was doing extra work. He was like we was living in there, so you know that was amazing. Also, like he was just being around him then he would he had such a positive energy like it was. It was amazing, like always smiling like anybody you see, like always smiling and always had that smile on him like Bride's face,
just bringing that amazing energy. Even now, like it's just hard man, hard to believe believe that, you know, it's gone. Like I feel like good people live lives us early, like God take taking them with them. You know, he
wants good people for for him. So yeah, just he was amazing shaped not only me, but so many other players into the players we are today and helped so many families, you know, how UH changed lives like let's let's call it the so many people's lives, not just with basketball, just overall, like how he approached the game, how he approached the life. A lot of us learned a lot from day on. And he's he's gonna be missed for sure.
Well, I know he's proud of you and the job that you've done and the player you player in person you've become, so so kudos to you.
Appreciate appreciate you, man.
But there had to be moments along along that that path before you even arrive at the NBA, where you go and I'm too young for this, I'm this is this is this is so much work to be asked of a teenager. And I would imagine those voices, those positive voices in your ear are the ones that kind of pulled it through to the other side. But take us through that where there are times where he said, this is too difficult.
Oh man, probably first time I left my country. I never wanted to leave my country because I thought I would never be I thought I didn't have enough like for there was always a dream to get to the NBA, but it was never like real, real dream, Like I never thought it was real, and uh just see the family situation as well, Like I had to do something,
you know, I help my family. I was even before I started playing basketball, I was trying to like work little jobs like sell watermelon, sell grapes, like trying trying to do little things to help my family. And then he was like, okay, I'm getting paid, or as sort as I got to Serbia, I was already getting paid because I was basically professional already, like just playing professionally.
So even that I wasn't getting paid a lot, but even that, like was helping my family and people so much, and I love to take care of the people around me. So there was like, okay, I can play basketball. Like it's hard, obviously, you gotta work every single day extremely hard, be away from your family. But I was like, at the end of the day, it's gonna pay off. And even if if if I don't make it to the NBA, I'm taking care of the people. I'm helping my family
and then and I'm living a healthy lifestyle. Uh So I think also being alone and just thinking and listening to my mom, talking to my mom, talking with my family, and just I think like I was pointing out and thinking about the right stuff. I had the right mindset. It's hard, but it's gonna get better at the end. So I just stayed positive because also when I got to service, I wasn't playing at all like your struggle, like really struggle. I had to fight, fight, fight for my minutes.
Uh.
But I think then made me much stronger.
When did you realize, Yoga, that it was was really a possibility to come to the NBA? What? What? What age?
Like?
Where were you?
What?
Click? Did somebody? Did somebody say something to you that actually turned the corner for you? When when did that moment really turn from a dream into well, hell, this is going to happen for me, like that I'm going to get drafted in the first round. This is happening. When did that happen?
Oh?
Man? I'd like to call myself a humble guy, so you can brag here it's the same. Yeah, I call myself a humble guy. And so sometimes even now, like I don't realize I'm in the NBA. Sometimes, Okay, I remember the other day I was driving the car. Was it the day or I don't know, maybe a year ago. I'm driving the car. Yeah, times I don't have feelings. And I'm driving the car and I'm wearing this polo and has an NBA logo on it, and I looked through the mirrors the logo, I'm like, okay, I'm in
the NBA, Like I feel its great. Yes to this day, I don't. I just go like boop, uh do my best. But when was it tard about? I don't really remember. Even when I got drafted, I was so like like I couldn't even get emotional, like I couldn't hear it, like because thinking about those days, obviously you're thinking about it. And he was like, am I gonna make it? Like like it's so far away, it's so far away. You feel like it's so far away that like you don't
believe it's real. So even when I got drafted, like I couldn't believe it, Like even I got to the team and just it was so hard for me to believe because not so many players make it and from my country, it's been only eight people in the in the history of Georgian and basketball, so to be one of that is just always hard to really like digest and like really lock into that that goga like that
has been like I don't know. Somebody said four thousand, five hundred NBA players ever that has yes the play and it's like, out of all these people, you make it there. It's just it's amazing. But sometimes I feel like, yeah, it's just a dream soul. Yeah, we how we had multiple Georgians on this team.
That's right, That's right.
We had a little right, yeah, Jake, Jake was going to ask you, how far was your house from Wendell's.
Yeah, it's in Tula. We've had Tulo Wendell.
Oh, we had nursing was on our team, man, and we got to drive get dragged there. Yes here his first year. But we we know Zaz really well and that n Here's you.
That's actually amazing. Yeah that when I think about it, that's amazing. There started to use there's eight players that has ever been drafted and yes, us had played for this team and uh it always uh brings joy to your heart, like and yeah, I don't know. It was just Orlando loves Georgia and people like it.
I guess that's what it is. Well, I get I think Stepanya was the first one, right, he was a pro, and then Zaza was the first, right, the first that came to Orlando.
Did you did.
You You must have been a fan of Zaza, I mean you might, that must have been he must have been huge back home.
Yeah, but when he got drafted out obviously.
Really for sure, sure I wasn't here maybe planned yea, and thank you for that, that's right.
It makes us feel old best, right.
But but you know, but as you get older, you know he's here playing. It must have made it seem a little bit possible that maybe you could make it.
Yeah. I never really watched the NBA maybe a games, but it was always national team. It was for us. It was first national team that he was anything else. So am just so many guys that I grew up watching Ozza and all the other guys. That's that's that's why, I mean, makes you fall in love with the basketball. Those you know, big names is as I was, ours lead, one of the biggest so and then he won two rings with the Warrior, makes you know, the most accomplished
you know, uh player in the history of basketball. So it was amazing, and uh, it was always like I think that's a little spark that it's like, Okay, he was just like you, same country, same possibilities more or less. And then he made it out there, so you can't make it out there as well. So there was always a little spark in all the Georgian basketball players' lives. For sure. That's great.
And now you get I gotta think nobody appreciates the opportunity that they get more than you. Right, So now the opportunity this year you come to Orlando. Uh, you know, at the end of last year, you kind of don't know where your careers to take it, but you get an opportunity here in Orlando. You play a little bit, and then this year you start thirty one games, you're having a career year. Everybody gets hurt and you're one of the guys go get it, keeps this whole thing afloat.
This whole season could have gone completely south with all the injuries, right, Wendel and for you lose Frans for eight games, but you're one of the guys that steps in it keeps this thing going, right. How much pride do you take in that? And how great has this opportunity been for it?
How of the all of the sit down keeping this keeping this low. But I'm helping a little bit, for sure. But uh yeah, last year. I think with four years with the three and a half years with Pacers and you know, oh COVID the year, everything is just just happening.
With some things happening in my career. Just I just realized that all you have to really ask the God is being healthy, your your loved ones being healthy, your family being healthy, because if you're not healthy, like none of this metals, if you've gone I have double double, or if you're gonna not for it, or none of
this is gonna matter if you're not healthy. So, uh, just all it was for me, everybody was like, oh, you're gonna kill next year, like if you get the chance, you're gonna I'm like, oh, just I want to be healthy. That's all I want to do, and my family to be healthy. And now you know, I signed with the Orlando doing this summer. I know that I'm gonna be here. And it was for me. It was never like, Okay, you're gonna play first to whatever, like you're gonna start.
Obviously we know the rotations, we know what's gonna be like. But uh, you know, I knew that I had to stay ready. That's what I learned during the four years last four years that I had. You have to stay ready because guys get hurt. Uh. It's bad that obviously, but guys get hurt. You've gotta step in and be ready for uh, for anything, Like you gotta be ready to play forty eight if it's necessary. So for me
to see this trust. Also, obviously I played great, but the trust you get from your teammates, it's like nobody was really like surprised. It wasn't like, oh, googa, like you were playing out your dawn mind. You know, like I don't play like that obviously, but nobody was like surprised. Everybody knew I could do what I could bring to the table. I feel like that's why I'm here, and you know, bringing the toughness, you know, just making right places,
not doing too much, not making too many mistakes. I think that's why we needed and for us to do great nine game wins streak, you know, everybody talk about us being part of that is amazing. And also we got long season. I don't know how many thirty eight thirty nine games left. It's so much it can't change. And just gotta stay ready. I'm blessed and I'm healthy.
I'm blessed, amazing teammates, amazing coaches that it's not just talk like they're really amazing, Like they make life easier and help you through this long, long season and to get through through it. So just all on my teammates, this team, this team is gonna be in my heart forever for sure.
That's awesome. Your fifth in offensive rebounding percentage, third and defensive rating. I mean, you've you've one of the league leaders in different categories. But the last thing I gotta ask you googa and then we'll let you go. And we really appreciate the time. We're excited about where this is gonna go. I think you've made a lot of friends and a lot of fans here in Central Florida. There are a lot of Batase fans that love when you get on the floor. But I think one of
my favorite stories is the Green Goblin story. Tell everything, right, you gotta tell you gotta tell everybody the Green Goblin story. That's one of my favorite mm hmm.
How it started, right, So it was training camp. Obviously it's a lot of guys and this is usually three or four teams. It's like, uh, this first unit, second unit. So they're wearing black jersey, black union firms. Uh. And the second second lineup is wearing white. And then we had the we had the green green little overshirts that we was wearing. It was me, Anthony Black, Caleb, Huston.
Tuma, and Jeff was a jet.
Jeff well the Green Goblins, but he's always been for life. Yeah, yeah for sure. And then we was wearing green jerseys and he was. Uh. We was like playing really good to the like together, you know, like okay, bidding black team being white team. Uh not always we was bidding there once. Yeah.
Well some of those made us nervous. We were watching training camp and we said, oh, this is this team shouldn't be winning like this. But it was impressive. It was impressible.
Yeah, we was hustling and then we was bringing the energy and I was like, okay, let me call this group like something. I gotta like, I gotta bring something up so to bring the joy to it, like to be fun people to talk about it. And then green albums and then we we kind of we we came saying this till this day, like a big was in the unit and then we make fun of him. We'd be like oh you're not a green Goblin. I was starting and they were like, oh, you're not agreeing goblin
no more. Now you're starting, like you forgot about It's like, yeah, but that's a little thing. And now Haylor played great or I play a good ad and everybody's like, hey, a green Goblins. So I think that's amazing. You know, it brings a little more fun to the season. So we've been doing amazing. People should look look at our numbers, like to get there. Yes, I said it. I don't think anybody's been in this, so you know, and.
They had three Green Goblins starting six games in a row. Okay, this has been a This has been a blast. We really appreciate it. Good luck rest of the way. It's been fun to this point. We can't wait to see what the second half of the season looks like. Best of luck.
Sure, first, thanks for having me guys all, I appreciate it.
I'll do it. For this addition of Magic Pod Squad with Goga Bitazi as