Brandin Thomas Podziemski ( ; born February 25, 2003) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Nicknamed "Podz", he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

and the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the ...

Early life and high school career

Podziemski grew up in

Greenfield, Wisconsin Greenfield is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 37,803 as of the 2020 census. Greenfield is one of many bedroom communities in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History On March 8, 1839, the Town of Kinnik ...

and attended St. John's Northwestern Military Academy. He was named first-team All-State after averaging 22.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore with St. John's Northwestern Military Academy after not playing on the varsity team as a freshman at Muskego High School. Podziemski averaged 27.6 points and 9.2 rebounds and repeated as a first-team All-State selection during his junior season. He was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball as a senior after averaging 35.1 points, ten rebounds, 5.6 assists, and four steals per game. Podziemski was also the boys basketball Gatorade Player of the Year for Wisconsin in 2021. Podziemski was rated a four-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

over offers from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Miami (FL), Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest. Podziemski was a left-handed pitcher growing up with opportunities to pursue baseball after high school. He played varsity football his junior year at St. John's Northwestern Academies as a wide receiver and safety.

College career

Podziemski began his college basketball career with the

. He played in 16 games as a freshman, all off the bench, and averaged 1.4 points per game. After the end of the season, Podziemski entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

. Podziemski ultimately transferred to Santa Clara. He entered his first season with the Broncos as the team's starting shooting guard. After scoring only 22 points during his entire season at Illinois, Podziemski scored 30 points with 9 rebounds and 5 steals in Santa Clara's season opener against

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

as the Broncos won 84–72. He scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the following game against Georgia Southern. NABC First Team, USBWA All-District, and All-WCC First Team. Podziemski also earned WCC Player of the Week honors a SCU record four times, his 636 points was the fourth most in a season in program history, and his SCU three-point percentage was fourth-best in SCU program history. Podziemski was one of only three NCAA Division 1 men's basketball players to average 19, 8, and 3 in the 2022–23 season and finished 5th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (43.8%). Podziemski declared for the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

while maintaining his eligibility. After taking part in the NBA Draft Combine and receiving positive feedback, he decided to remain in the draft.

Professional career

The

selected Podziemski with the nineteenth overall pick in the

, and on July 3, 2023, signed him to a contract. On December 12, 2023, against the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, Podziemski became the first

rookie to have 20+ points, 10+ rebounds (11), and 5 or more assists in a single game since two-time NBA MVP

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

did so in the 2009–10 season. On December 16, 2023, Podziemski put up 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a career-high four three-pointers made in a 124–120 win over the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

. On December 25, 2023, against the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, Podziemski became the first rookie in NBA history to have 9+ rebounds, 6+ assists, 5+ steals, and 3+ three-pointers in a single game. (That evening, he had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals on 57/75/100 splits.) On February 16, 2024, Podziemski played in the Panini Rising Stars tournament in Indianapolis for Team Pau. On May 21, 2024, Podziemski was announced on the NBA all-rookie first team. Before the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, he was drafted to the USA Select Team alongside his teammate

Trayce Jackson-Davis Trayce Jackson-Davis (né Davis; born February 22, 2000), more commonly referred to by his initials "TJD", is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college ...

. During Podziemski's rookie season, he led the NBA in total charge fouls drawn and charge fouls drawn per game. During the Warriors' 109–105 win over the

, Podziemski suffered an abdominal injury in the second quarter, concurrently missing 12 straight games. He returned on January 23, recording 10 points and 4 rebounds in a blowout win against the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. On February 5, 2025, Podziemski scored a career-high 29 points, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a 131–128 loss to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. On February 8, 2025, the NBA announced that Podziemski will play in their Rising Stars game as an injury replacement player for Cason Wallace. On February 23, 2025, Podziemski recorded 17 points along with a career-high 13 rebounds in a 126–102 win over the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, notching his first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

of the season. On May 14, he scored a playoff career-high 28 points in a 121–110 closeout loss to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

in Game 5 of the Conference Semifinals.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 74 , , 28 , , 26.6 , , .454 , , .385 , , .633 , , 5.8 , , 3.7 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 64 , , 33 , , 26.8 , , .445 , , .372 , , .758 , , 5.1 , , 3.4 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 11.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 138 , , 61 , , 26.7 , , .449 , , .378 , , .701 , , 5.4 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 10.4

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 12 , , 11 , , 32.1 , , .364 , , .328 , , .708 , , 5.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 11.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 12 , , 11 , , 32.1 , , .364 , , .328 , , .708 , , 5.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 11.3

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .421 , , .231 , , .750 , , .9 , , .3 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Santa Clara , 32 , , 32 , , 36.0 , , .483 , , .438 , , .771 , , 8.8 , , 3.7 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , 19.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 48 , , 32 , , 25.4 , , .480 , , .424 , , .770 , , 6.1 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 13.7

Personal life

Podziemski is of Polish descent and has expressed interest in obtaining Polish citizenship in order to play for the Poland national team. He is being recruited to the team by member Jeremy Sochan.

References

External links

*
Santa Clara Broncos bioIllinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podziemski, Brandin 2003 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players American people of Polish descent Basketball players from Wisconsin Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players Santa Cruz Warriors players