🏀🔍0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ Jon Pastuszek
Photo: Jon Pastuszek
Meet Jon Pastuszek, an international basketball scout helping to identify the next wave of players looking to realize their hoops dreams in the NBA.
Pastuszek grew up in the Boston suburbs where the Celtics still captivated the imagination of generations, even though their glory days as NBA Champions were over (for the time being). As a kid, he enjoyed playing basketball, but by the end of high school realized that his future did not include playing at a higher level. “I always wanted basketball to be part of my life,” he said. “That was how I imagined my adult life centering somewhere around basketball.” But he didn’t think he was good enough to become a player. Instead, inspired by a four-week trip to China during his junior year of high school, Pastuszek navigated a path that combined his interests in Asian and Chinese studies, with his love for the game, into a basketball career.
Jon’s Story
Pastuszek’s road to France ran through China, where he spent seven years after graduation from the University of San Francisco (Bill Russell’s alma mater) working in Beijing. In 2010, he started a website that covered Chinese basketball for English-language audiences. “Chinese basketball was in a good spot at the time,” he reflected. “So my site was able to generate some interest from people in the basketball world.” He translated that expertise and know-how into a fledgling career as a part-time China scout for an NBA team.
Six years later, Pastuszek moved to France for family reasons and found his way back into the heart of the game. Luck and timing played in his favor, as did being based in a location “where there’s a lot of players.” He worked as a regional European scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves for three years, then in 2019, became an international scout for the Washington Wizards.
The Sports Diplomacy Connection
In this role, Pastuszek engages in informal sports diplomacy day-in and day-out. “I’ve always viewed being an American abroad as representing your country,” he said. “Whether you want to or not, people speak to you in the context of your being American.”
He’s thus become fluent translating U.S. culture, basketball, and the American mentality.
“People are generally pretty interested about the differences between French and European basketball and NBA/G-League,” Pastuszek explained.
“They've become quite different over the last several years. It's always interesting to try to compare and contrast the different styles of basketball, and the different types of players that have success in their respective leagues. The French are also curious about individual player development, which is a concept that is starting to catch on here.”
Photo: Jon Pastuszek
At the same time, he’s learning much about France and the French, well outside the bounds of the basketball court.
“I had never been to Europe,” Pastuszek noted of his pre-2016 experience. “But as someone who’s naturally curious, being open-minded and inquisitive, wanting to learn, I’ve found that people are pretty open with me and pretty welcoming, which has been nice.”
This was helpful in adjusting to the daily rhythm of being an American abroad, but also, vitally, to his professional basketball work.
“It’s made my job easier, to develop my network and develop relationships here,” Pastuszek said. One particular anecdote illustrates how people-to-people cultural exchanges can lead to on-court synergies.
“After I had been in Paris for about a year or so, I sent a cold email to a local historian about something I had found interesting in a newspaper article. He had been quoted in the article, and I found his email on a website. A couple of days later, I received a very warm response and an invitation to have coffee at his office and to see a collection of archives. At the conclusion of our afternoon, I went home with a new friend, two books that he gifted to me… And another invitation, this time to play pick-up with a group that he had been playing with for several years. I still play with that group when my schedule allows.”
For Pastuszek, “being an ambassador isn’t something you choose, it’s something you are.”
Mapping the Connection
From Newton, Massachusetts to Paris, France
Further Reading/Resources
[E] Jon Pastuszek, interview with the author. March 9, 2022
[E] Jon Pastuszek, email to the author. March 10, 2022.
How to Cite This Entry
Krasnoff, Lindsay Sarah. “Voices: Jon Pastuszek,” FranceAndUS, https://www.franceussports.com/voices/019-jon-pastuszek. (date of consultation).