Podz describes the “tough” decision he made to prefer basketball to baseball.

.”Yes, that’s right. Really tough,” Podziemski remarked. “My mother has a tendency to follow the crowd. So she says, “Yeah, that’s fine,” anything I want to do. However, my father was really supportive of me playing baseball. He asked me to make it in since he couldn’t make it in for something.”It was a difficult talk. I remember telling him in the van that I didn’t think I wanted to play baseball anymore while we were returning from a tournament in Nashville. I believe that playing basketball is what I love to do today, and I want to stop here.””He was like, “There’s no way, you’re so talented, you’re so gifted, you’re meant to play baseball,” and I remember him almost crying over it. I simply stuck to my guns and said, “If you let me play, I’m going to be successful in basketball.” After five or six years, he was drafted, so he simply followed my advice.”I don’t think it was anything he said, it was just kind of tears of joy,” said Podziemski. “I believe that the majority of my family played high school athletics; none of them have ever participated in sports at any level higher than college. It was therefore a lot of fun for me to be able to celebrate our family’s success and to have them all there with me in Brooklyn.”In rumors of trades for other All-Stars, Podziemski is apparently a highly sought-after trade chip. He has rapidly established himself as a respected NBA player.Whether the Warriors choose to retain Podziemski in the long run or use him as the focal point of a trade for a player such as Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, it’s clear to say that the team gained a great deal from his pivotal choice to give up baseball for basketball.