Warriors rookie and Greenfield native Brandin Podziemski returns to Fiserv in 'full circle moment'

MILWAUKEE — From playing basketball at St. John's Northwestern Academies in Delafield to suiting up collegiately for the University of Illinois, Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski is no stranger to Fiserv Forum.

The Greenfield native can remember visiting the arena with his father in 2018 when it was first built. He played there later that year with his high school basketball team and in college when Illinois played Marquette.

Podziemski returned to Fiserv once again Saturday night, but this time as an NBA player with Golden State.

This was the Warriors first meeting against the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023-24 regular season.

With it being Podziemski's first return to his home state as a professional basketball player, the point guard shared he had somewhere around 300 people in attendance for his long-awaited return.

“It’s just pretty cool to see my journey from where I started, where I am now," Podziemski expressed. "Playing at the highest level possible and being able to come back here, back home in front of my fans and my family, I think it's a blessing.”

Since being drafted 19th overall this past June in the 2023 NBA Draft, Podziemski's parents have been to nearly a dozen games this season.

"He busted his butt," Barb West, Brandin's mother, smiled. "He's just a hard worker and he's very determined. Once he sets his mind to something, he achieves it."

However, Saturday’s game was one of the more emotional ones for his father John.

“He's like my hero," John said with tears in his eyes. "Anything he puts his mind to, he just does it, and he never looks back on it. He does it all he time, and that’s, what more could you ask for than for your child to do something like that?”

While the Greenfield native shared its surreal to call players like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson his teammates, getting to suit up against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard Saturday night was also another 'pinch me moment.'

"I kind of got to watch Giannis grow when I was a kid," he shared. "I remember I was here at Game 6 in 2021 when they won the title, so just to see that, and now two years later fast forward I'm playing against him — a full circle moment."

It’s not lost on Podziemski that it was only a few years ago he sat in the same seats at Fiserv wathing his favorite players, and now there are fans wearing his jersey.

When asked about his message to young basketball players chasing the same dream, he referenced this post on X from Christmas Eve:

"No matter where you come from, no matter what your background is, how you're raised, you always can make it," Podziemski reiterated.

The Greenfield native tied his career high in Saturday night’s 129-118 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with 23 points and ten rebounds.

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