Take 22 Podcast with Anton Watson: A conversation about Gonzaga basketball, Fisher-Price mini-hoops and why Drake has no equal

Feb. 7—Anton Watson has never been known to be much of a talker on the court, but Gonzaga's versatile big man showed he can chat with the best of them away from it.

On Tuesday, Watson's new podcast, "Take 22," made its debut at www.spokesman.com. Alongside co-host Theo Lawson, a reporter at The Spokesman-Review, Watson touched on a little bit of everything, from last Saturday's wild loss to Saint Mary's, to spending the holidays with his grandmother in Mullan, Idaho, to his favorite basketball shoe of all time.

Here's a sampling:

On trying to stop Aiden Mahaney of Saint Mary's on Saturday: "He just had all the confidence after making a couple of buckets. He wasn't passing the ball after that. After he made some tough 2s, he definitely had the mindset that he was getting to the cup. For a freshman, that's hard to do."

On teammate Drew Timme approaching Frank Burgess' all-time scoring mark at Gonzaga: "It's crazy to see him achieve all these records. He's just playing the game. He's not even trying to do that, he's just playing. I'm super proud of him. Being his teammate from freshman year, I've seen the growth and seen how much work he puts into it, so you know it's all deserved for him. That's not an easy thing to do. Those records seem untouchable, but he's going to be the leading scorer of all time of GU basketball."

On growing in Coeur d'Alene and Mullan, Idaho: "Man, Mullan is definitely different. Not that many people live there, but it's a special place for our family. Anytime we go there, it's super fun. It's kind of peaceful. We used to go there for holidays. My grandma used to live there, so we'd go there every Christmas, Thanksgiving. It's definitely a special place. If you've never been to Mullan, you should definitely drive through there."

On which basketball shoe he'd wear, if he had to pick one, for the rest of his life in games? "I'd probably say the Kobe 8s. I had one pair of those and they're probably my favorite shoes. The most comfy. And I like the low-cuts ... They're so hard to get. I had the red and black ones. I wore those like every single game, every single practice. I wish I could get another pair."

Every Tuesday, Watson and Lawson will break down action on the court, but also visit with special guests from time to time, and offer some rapid-fire fun in their closing "catch-and-shoot" segment.

Catch the entire first episode at www.spokesman.com/podcasts/take-22/. It's also available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts.