SAN ANTONIO — In their first meeting of the season against the Knicks, the San Antonio Spurs picked up a 122-115 win in San Antonio.
And Romeo Langford was key in that win, recording his NBA career-high 23 points versus New York.
Following the win, Keldon Johnson spoke highly of Langford saying he's "happy" he is on the roster.
"I’m proud of him. I’m happy he’s with us. He’s a great defender, he’s playing well. Cutting to the baskets, hitting jump-shots," Johnson said.
Johnson also admitted was not completely surprised by Langford's outing.
In fact, the Spurs forward urged everyone to watch Langford's high school and college basketball highlights to realize this is the kind of player he is.
“I want all of you to go look at Romeo’s highlights from high school and college," said Johnson. "I’ve been saying this since last year, I want you all to look at his highlights and you’ll see more than 20-point nights. It’s crazy."
So let's do just that.
Here is a sample of Langford's pre-NBA basketball highlights and watch for yourself.
Langford scores 46 points in 10th grade for New Albany high school:
For his high school career, Langford averaged 31.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game in three seasons on the varsity squad.
Langford's freshman year at Indiana:
For his career at Indiana, Langford averaged 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game during the 2018-19 season.
It appears Johnson was right.
The 2019 first-round pick was acquired from Boston in the 2022 trade involving Derrick White.
His stint with the Celtics was marred with injuries where he played 94 games total in three seasons in Boston.
Now that he is a Spur, he's been healthy and flourishing averaging a career-high in points (6.5 points per game), offensive rebounds (1.4 per game), field-goal percentage (48 percent), and minutes played (19.2).
In addition, the Spurs are 4-0 when he plays over 27 minutes and he averaged 7.7 points per game in December 2022 off 52 percent shooting in 10 games played.
"He’s a prime example of staying ready and taking advantage of an opportunity," Johnson said.
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