The San Antonio Spurs were headlined by French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who became the first-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. But he wasn’t the only French rookie on the team. Sidy Cissoko also joined the squad for the 2023-24 campaign.
Cissoko spent most of the year with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate. He enjoyed a successful year overall, but it came with a ton of challenges. Cissoko recently spoke with the “HOOPSIDIA” YouTube channel about the ups and downs of his rookie year and how he dealt with them.
Most notably, Cissoko opened up about the depression he fell into while in Austin. (H/t Jeff Garcia of KENS 5)
“Most of the time, I’m in the G League and, therefore, in Austin, and my apartment doesn’t get much daylight. It’s really depressing,” said Cissoko.
And when he got injured toward the end of the season, things got worse.
“I’m not going to lie. The last few months, when I was injured, I fell a bit into depression. It was difficult because I was looking for something to do,” Cissoko said.
Luckily, he learned of ways to improve himself and get out of his funk.
“I finally learned to keep busy. Now I put my phone aside, I bought a piano to learn to play, and I clear my head,” said Cissoko. “Now I have fun with the piano; I play quite a bit.”
Cissoko should have a chance to see an increased role in San Antonio moving forward.
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