Spurs' Sochan Focused on Blocking Out Noise

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SAN ANTONIO -- Jeremy Sochan could've written a children's book explaining the different kinds of juice he gave away at Southwest Elixirs Wednesday afternoon.

"Green juice, orange juice, red juice," Sochan rattled off midway through his meet-and-greet. "Whatever you want ... I like everything."

His fans did, too. An hour before his noon call time at the local San Antonio juice shop, a line began forming down the ramp and around the building in anticipation to meet Sochan, who was fresh off a trip around the world.

In the two months between the end of the regular season and his return to San Antonio, the forward visited London, Spain and the Philippines along with Malaki Branham, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell.

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Part of the trip was to celebrate Branham and Sochan's birthday; for Sochan, it was also about feeding Manila's basketball appetite as an NBA Ambassador.

"It was my first time in Asia," Sochan explained. "I didn't know what to expect. I knew the basketball culture was crazy in the Philippines, but truly being there, I was shocked. They live and die basketball."

Even so, being home was a welcome change of pace for the 22-year-old.

"San Antonio is where my people are," Sochan said. "Where my dogs are. I've always got love for ... the community. It's always important to reconnect."

As Sochan signed his own jerseys, sweatshirts and trading cards, he got an overdue dose of the only fanbase he's known. If his name was being tossed around trade rumors regarding Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant or Milwaukee Bucks center Giannis Antetokounmpo, you wouldn't have known.

"To me, it's important to be in the present," Sochan said. "Right now, I'm here in San Antonio working my ass off and trying to be the best player I can be. That's the most important thing."

San Antonio was initially involved in talks for Antetokounmpo after the Bucks suffered a third-straight first-round exit from the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Without much draft capital and an ailing, aging Damian Lillard, a parting of ways between the Greek star and his first franchise seems to be inevitable.

Then there's Durant, who sits in a similar boat in Phoenix, only he makes up a trio of stars including Devin Booker and Bradley Beal who were expected to bring the Suns back to the NBA Finals, to no avail. The 36-year-old comes cheaper than Antetokounmpo, yet Sochan would still likely be included in any deal to match Durant's $54 million annual salary for next season.

While Sochan and the rest of the Spurs try not to look too far into rumors, even a pair of noise-cancelling headphones can't completely block out offseason bedlam. That's when his positivity takes over.

"You do hear stuff," Sochan said. "Everyone wants to come here. I think that's a good thing. It shows the excitement around San Antonio, the organization."

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Since the Spurs were eliminated from playoff contention after a 34-win season, Sochan has been working on his shot. Entering his fourth season, the forward logged a career-high field goal percentage from within the arc, but hasn't seen much improvement in his range shooting.

Finding a more fluid shot to combat that issue is atop his list of changes to tackle this offseason, and since his return, he's been among the crowd of Spurs in the gym for more two hours a day.

"Everyone in the gym, the front office, coaching (staff) -- we're all super excited," Sochan said. "We're all motivated and hungry ... on the same page."

"We're just grinding it out, getting better." Spurs guard Blake Wesley added.

With the NBA Draft around the corner and a busy offseason ahead -- including a stint playing for Poland's national team at EuroBasket 2025 -- Sochan has more traveling to do before he suits up for his fourth NBA season.

He also has more work to do on his game and his body like several of his other teammates, including De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama, the latter of whom opted for a full-immersion retreat at a Shaolin temple in China.

"That's the most important thing, to be healthy," he said. "That's what's going to give us the best opportunity to win. To become a playoff team and a contender. It's super important."

Sochan's methods of recovery lean more soulful than physical at times; his juice endeavor corroborates that. But for him, healing is healing.

Still, he wouldn't mind following in his 7-foot teammate's footsteps.

"I would shave my head," Sochan said before heading back behind the counter to hand out more juice to his fans. "Why not?"