SAN ANTONIO — In his rookie season, San Antonio Spurs' Sidy Cissoko spent most of it away from the San Antonio court and honed his skills with the G League's Austin Spurs.
However, after spending a season (2022-23) in Las Vegas with the G League Ignite team, transitioning from the bright lights of Vegas to calmer Austin and San Antonio was an adjustment for him.
Cissiko spoke with "Hoopsidia" (via Parlons-Basket) about acclimating to life in Austin and San Antonio.
"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," he said.
His San Antonio teammates were there to keep him company. He said he enjoyed spending time with Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson but realized he spent too much time away from the court playing video games.
He admits he wasted opportunities to improve his on-court skills, stay in contact with his family, or help the community.
"I realized that even when I played the Playstation, I played too much. On Fortnite, I spent the equivalent of 160 days! This is wasted time that I could have spent in the gym, time that I could have made donations and helped people in need, called my family," he said. "I wasted time on it, so now I'm doing it differently."
Cissoko played well in Austin, averaging 15.5 points per game and 44% shooting, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 23 games.
However, his time away from the court caused him to become restless, and an injury did not help matters.
Last season, he suffered a left ankle injury that kept him from playing for several weeks.
According to him, that idle time sent him into a depression because he didn't know what to do.
"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," he said.
Fortunately, he found an outlet through music—specifically, the piano.
He put his phone away and channeled that desire to keep busy by learning to play the piano.
"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," he said. "Now I have fun with the piano; I play quite a bit."
Ultimately, these are lessons learned for the 20-year-old.
He is a professional player and must stay ready by getting into the gym every moment to better himself, even on days off. He saw his missteps, and hopefully, this will translate into a tremendous sophomore season for him and the Spurs.