CHARLOTTE (USA) - With a FIBA Basketball World Cup in hand, Spain and its national team players now look towards the next big prize, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo next summer. But well before that comes the duty to their club teams and the season that starts within days.

A key player for Spain in China, Willy Hernangomez returns to the Charlotte Hornets a world champion along with a new understanding of the game and his responsibilities to both club and country.

In the Quarter-Final against Poland, he tallied 18 points on 64 percent (7-of-11) shooting in just 16 minutes. Against Argentina in the Final, he scored 11 points and added 3 blocks. It marked his fourth medal for Spain. He had helped his country win their last game in the previous big tournaments,  the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but those were third place games. In 2015, he played a smaller role in Spain's gold medal EuroBasket campaign. 

"It was an amazing experience for me to be in the World Cup, to be with the national team at the highest level and play against the best teams in the world," Hernangomez told FIBA. "That will help me be ready, readier than ever to begin this new season."

The Hornets, like other NBA teams featuring national team athletes, are easing Hernangomez and Nicolas Batum, a bronze medalist with France, through the pre-season games before the league starts games in earnest next week.

When asked if the campaign had changed him, he replied, "I think so. I'm a completely different player now from last year to this year. Obviously, the experience that the World Cup put on me but I think I really grew up; I think I'm more mature and I'm really thinking about the way that things are going to go."

"To be ready before the games, and for practice. It's all about mindset. I try to be really focused before the games, to stay calm, not to be nervous or overly excited about games. It's a basketball game, it's going to be the same. So, to just be super ready before the game, focused on what I do and I'm going to be okay. "

Hernangomez hopes to bring the winning mentality and what he learned in the process to his teammates on the Hornets who enter their first season in eight years without three-time NBA All Star Kemba Walker, who played for the USA at the World Cup before heading to Boston.

Willy Hernangomez

"All the experience, all the togetherness, the way we competed, the way we put effort on the court on defense and offense," he explained while adding his personal commitment.

"The way we support each other, that championship mentality I'm going to try and share with my teammates, to try and be better, and show them that I really want to help the team, help my teammates do better, and the energy is going to be there every day."

He credits much of his enlightenment to Marc Gasol, who became only the second player to win NBA and FIBA World Cup titles in the same year.

"It's going to be my fourth year in the league, my ninth year as a professional," said the 25-year-old Hernangomez who began his NBA career with the New York Knicks in 2016.

"I feel like I have the responsibility to tell the young players they have to be here with energy, they have to work hard every day, no matter if you play bad the last night or you have a bad day, you've got to be here."

Having said that, the Hornets center acknowledges that he is still both teacher and student.

"We have so many young players here in the team but the same way I am going to try and teach them and give them advice, I am still learning from the veterans here, from Marvin (Williams), from MKG (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist), from Cody (Zeller) and Bis (Biyombo). We have a great mix of veterans and young players."

"I've been working on more consistency with my shots, my position on the court, my fitness so I can push the ball more on the fast break. And I'm working more on the psychology part of the game, to see where I've got to be on the court on offense and where I've got to be positioning on defense to improve my defense. It's not just about being stronger and faster, you've got to learn the game of defense.

"I am trying to watch and learn, as I did with my team in Spain with Marc, and try to become a better player. I can't wait to see it happen."

There will be an additional change for Hernangomez, who had worn number 41 for the Hornets but 14 for Spain as his teammate and younger brother Juancho, also in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, had that jersey. He will wear No. 9 this season.

His purpose - to further honor his mother, Margarita Geuer, whose maiden name her wore on his back during the World Cup. An accomplished athlete, she proudly donned that number during her career with the Spanish women's national team from 1985-1993, including the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and a gold medal in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 1993.

As for Tokyo, Hernangomez says those thoughts are for later.

"Not yet. I am just focused on this season. Right now, in training camp I'm fighting for minutes, trying to show Coach JB (James Borrego) and my teammates I'm ready to go to the next level."

"I've been working really hard this summer and the last couple of years to have the opportunity to play and show them that I really want to be here and can help the team."

And as for when he sees Juancho, Gasol, Ricky Rubio, or other Spanish teammates on the other side of the court this season?

"Obviously, it's going to be special, thinking about the history we made for Spain. We made something big. This is my family and it's going to be super special to play against them now."

FIBA