SALT LAKE CITY — It has been five years since Jakob Poeltl last laced up his shoes and took the court inside the Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus.
Poeltl was a genuine star for the Utes — he finished his career with 931 points, 557 total rebounds and 119 blocks, and led Utah to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2014-15 — and in the time since his career up on the hill ended his life hasn’t been any less interesting.
The Austrian national was drafted by the Toronto Raptors with the ninth pick in the 2016 draft, played two seasons with the Raptors, was a part of the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto and then played the past two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs.
It has been a whirlwind start to the former Ute’s professional basketball career and on Thursday Poeltl took part in an online Q&A session over Twitter answering questions about that career.
Among the queries posed to Poeltl were: What it means to him to be the first Austrian to play in the NBA, what it is like to play for Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich and what he has learned from Tim Duncan and LaMarcus Aldridge during his time in San Antonio.
Each question asked — seven were ultimately selected — and Poeltl’s answers can be found in the videos below.