Primo was on McDermott’s radar long before they became teammates

LOS ANGELES — Doug McDermott knew about rookie Josh Primo long before they wound up with the Spurs.

Primo was on McDermott’s radar because McDermott’s father, Creighton coach Greg McDermott, recruited Primo while he was starring for Huntington Prep School in West Virginia.

“I’ve been impressed with him for a long time,” Doug McDermott said of Primo. “My dad recruited him really hard at Creighton. I think it came down to Creighton and Alabama. So I’ve been watching Josh for a long time. I’ve always known he was going to be a hell of a player.”

Primo, 18, will be the star attraction for the Austin Spurs when they open their home schedule against the Mexico City Capitanes at 5 p.m. Sunday at HE-B Center at Cedar Park.

In the G League team’s season opener, Primo scored 14 points and dished out eight assists in a 127-117 loss to Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 5.

The Spurs drafted Primo 12th overall in July after he earned AllSEC freshman honors by starting 19 of the Crimson Tide’s 30 games in 2020-21 and averaging 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 38.1 percent from 3point range.

In August, the Spurs acquired Doug McDermott in a sign-andtrade deal with Indiana. The 29year-old ninth-year pro and the teen immediately bonded over their Creighton connection.

“Doug told me he was watching some film on me before I decided which school I was going to,” Primo said. “He was trying to help his dad recruit. That was cool to find out.”

Primo said Greg McDermott recruited him “very hard.”

“He was high on me,” Primo said. “I really liked their team. It came down to them and Alabama. I went to Alabama, but we still kept in touch.”

Doug McDermott loves Primo’s confidence and poise, something he said he’s seen in the Toronto native since “day one.”

Primo has displayed flashes of his potential in his few appearances with the Spurs, much to the delight of fans who enthusiastically

call on coach Gregg Popovich to play him.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Doug McDermott said. “I couldn’t imagine being 18 years old and stepping on an NBA floor with people chanting my name. I feel like I’d have the goosebumps a little bit.”

McDermott, a career 41 percent shooter from 3-point range who leads the Spurs regulars in 3point shooting at 48.8 percent on 4.5 attempts per game, also is impressed with Primo’s form from beyond the arc.

“I don’t think he needs to change a thing with that jump shot,” he said. “The arc is great.

And he’s got all kinds of confidence, which is what shooters need in this league.”

Game against Lakers to air internationally

The Spurs’ early start — 12:30 p.m. Pacific, 2:30 p.m. Central — against the Lakers on Sunday at Staples Center is because the game being televised internationally as part of the NBA’s Europe Primetime Initative.

It’s one of 48 weekend games this season that will air in prime time in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a league spokesman

said.

Based on 2021-22 openingnight rosters, 55 European players will play in the prime-time weekend games this season, SVG Europe News reported. Fortyeight countries and territories in Europe will broadcast primetime games in 45 languages across the region.

The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks will be featured in seven of the games, the most of any team in the NBA along with the New York Knicks.

Ronald Cortes / Getty Images Doug McDermott says of Spurs rookie Josh Primo (not pictured), “My dad recruited him really hard at Creighton . ... I’ve always known he was going to be a hell of a player.”