The video is an interview‑style profile of Brazilian basketball player Gui Santos, chronicling his path from a basketball‑obsessed child in Brasília to a small‑forward for the Golden State Warriors. Santos recounts early memories of mimicking his father’s name, playing 5‑on‑5 against adults at age nine in São José dos Campos, and the poor training conditions in Brazil (sub‑par courts, low‑quality balls). The COVID‑19 pandemic became a turning point; he dedicated himself to strength and speed work, which transformed his game for the national championship. On draft night his agent first told him he wouldn’t be selected, then quickly informed him that the Warriors would pick him 55th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. Santos describes his nervous first interview with the Warriors, the pressure of sharing a locker room with Stephen Curry, and the reassurance that his role would be to play hard rather than score. He reflects on his debut against Oklahoma City, the rarity of Brazilian players in the NBA, and the emotional significance of achieving a lifelong dream. The video intersperses commentary from announcers praising his movement, rebounding, and bench contributions, reinforcing the narrative of perseverance, adaptation, and the importance of heart over flash.
Chapters
I'm Gui Santos. I play for the Warriors as a small forward, and I'm 23 years old. I grew up in Brasília, Brazil, but also I was moving around a little bit because my dad was a basketball player. I remember the first time that, like, when everybody was just calling my dad's name, "Davison!" Like, his name is Davison, and everybody was like, "Hey!" "Davidson!" And I was like, "Oh, I want them to scream my name one day like that. I want to be a basketball player too." I was always playing basketball. There is like videos of me shooting the ball when I was 2 years old, like not even 2, I was like 1 and something. The small basketball, like they have like plastic basketballs and I was just playing there.
But when I really start playing for a team and playing 5-on-5, I was 9 years old in São José dos Campos. That is a small city in São Paulo. Usually here in America, when you're 16 and 17, you play guys like your age or a little bit older, but I was playing guys 20-something, 30-something. And that was very tough for me because I was skinny, I was like not too tall, and everybody was going at me. And I was having that feeling like, "Oh, okay, I will never play basketball." Every time that I was trying to work out in Brazil, I gotta have a mop with me, I gotta clean the court by myself. The balls was not in a good quality. The rim was like, that was not in the right sizes and all that. After that, the pandemic happened and I just changed my mind. I said, "Look, I'm gonna work out and I'm gonna get stronger. I'm gonna get quicker and everything." And that's what I did. And that was the big jump for me because when the championship, like the national championship in Brazil came back, I was a whole different player. Night of the draft, my agent called me and he was like, "Gui, we're not gonna get drafted." I went to my bed. I was like very, very disappointed, you know, I wanna play in the NBA. 5 minutes later, my agent called me and he say like, "Gui, go to the front of the TV. Golden State gonna pick you in pick 45.
Go watch this." With the 55th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors select Gui Santos from Brasília, Brazil.
And I remember my first interview when I got here. I was so nervous, I couldn't talk. And they also like, You got Steph up there, so when you're gonna play with him, you're not gonna have the ball in your hands because he's the best player in the world. I thought like, "Oh, I'm not gonna be good enough." Talking to me like, "Gui, don't worry about it. You don't need to score a lot of points. You just need to be a hard-playing guy, give your heart on the court, and that's gonna make you go to the NBA." Jumper, no good.
Santos, the rebound, put it back in in the air with one hand and got fouled! Outstanding!
Stupendous!
My first game against OKC, I was just, like, dreaming about it because in Brazil, I think there was just 19 players that played in the whole history. And I was like, "Please, Gui, make a layup and you're gonna be in the history." He moves his feet.
Jamski, what a look to Gui Santos. He's really worked on his movement without the ball. He knows that's the way the Warriors love to play.
For me, make it to the NBA after go through everything like that, a dream come true.
Catches on the left side, doesn't wanna shoot it, waits for Curry to come by, feeds Santos above the break, left wing 3, got it!
