There’s something interesting about it. The way some players evolve to match the culture of basketball. It can look like a walk—a sort of swag that manifests as a mixture of unwavering confidence and body-shattering soreness from a seven-hour workout done the night before.
But other times, it looks like just straight-up passion, the kind that says “kill or be killed.” Those who live in America are no stranger to the in-your-face sort of culture that surrounds basketball. But for players from abroad, like new Detroit Pistons rookie Bobi Klintman, it’s a completely different world. But it’s also one he’s adapting to.
“I would say out here in America, it’s like a religion,” Klintman says. “You grow up playing basketball, basically. You know somebody that played basketball, you probably have somebody in your family that played basketball.”
And it’s true. For many basketball players, it was practically instilled at birth—with many still hanging on to the early memories of one-handed dunks on a Little Tikes hoop. But for Klintman, that early exposure was hardly an option.
Growing up in Malmö, a coastal city in southern Sweden, Bobi became accustomed to the culture of football—or soccer, as we like to call it—before he ever tapped into the basketball scene.
“You heard about people playing soccer in school,” he says. “That’s like the number one sport. So, basketball, you don’t really see it a lot.”
It wasn’t until Klintman hit his early teens that he was able to really start molding himself as a basketball player. But even then, it didn’t compare to the level of intensity that was going on in the States.
“You got high school, AAU, that whole system—which is all different from Sweden. Sweden is more, like, you do it for fun,” he says.
Where many high school players would have an entire space or facility dedicated to helping them get better at their craft, Klintman had to share gym time with other sports.
“It’s very hard to get into the gym, there’s always something going on. It might be handball, field hockey, anything going on in the gym. So, you never knew when it would be available to go into the gym. When you got your practice time, you really got to maximize it,” Klintman explains.
Attending Sweden’s RIG Mark Academy, Klintman quickly rose through league ranks playing 13 games in 2019 for the academy’s third-tier league, Basketettan. Not even a year later, he made his way into the second-tier league, Superettan, before his season was cut short by Covid in February 2020.
“[RIG] is where we would have school and basketball at the same time. And that’s what I did when I turned 15. It’s kinda like club basketball, that’s the main thing, and if you’re good enough, you play pro in Sweden.”
And play pro he did.
In 2021, Klintman rose to the first-tier league, Basketligan, where he played six games for the professional basketball club Borås Basket to finish out the season.
Despite going up against some of the top high school players in the country, he still managed to spark the attention of scouts overseas. The Swedish star received seven offers from top colleges, including Kansas and Virginia, before even stepping foot on US soil.
That following year, Klintman made the important decision to leave Sweden and travel to Kansas to play for Sunrise Christian Academy–a school known for developing some of the most decorated players during their early years, including Buddy Hield, Blake Hinson, and Gradey Dick (to name a few).
Assimilating into America’s passionate culture of basketball when you’re coming from a different country with an entirely different perspective on basketball isn’t easy. But Klintman didn’t focus too hard on the cultural differences. He simply took the opportunity at Sunrise Christian and ran with it.
Bobi quickly adapted to the American style of play, leading the team to a 25-2 overall record and the best season in school history. The team also won the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, going 9-2 against nationally ranked opponents and peaking as the top-ranked team in the nation in February 2022.
Looking back on that time in his life, Klintman credits a lot of his growth as a player to his days at SCA.
“It was like, if you want to play a different position, you’ve got to be able to guard that position. “It was all me for that [ever] since I got out there,” Klintman said. “I couldn’t really move my feet at all when I first got to the US, but that was something I had to work on a lot, and still workin’ on ’til this day.”
Receiving support from loved ones and newly learned skills and guidance from former SCA coach Luke Barnwell, Klintman grew into a four-star recruit and took yet another huge leap of faith, committing to Maryland. But then he started second-guessing which college team was the right fit; he de-committed from Maryland and then Colorado before finally landing at Wake Forest.
“It’s different man. You have guys on your team that’s like 24 years old that’s been in college for, like, four years, so they know the system,” he says. “It’s just a lot to get used to. You gotta find a routine, something that works for you. When you step on the court, everything just closes.”
Bobi quickly became familiar with the team’s work ethic and appeared in all 33 games of his first season, even starting for a few games at the end of the year.
“You gotta really be a hard worker, you know?” he says. “That was probably when I really realized, we really got to put in, like, 100 percent, because to get on the court is very competitive.”
Much like his run at SCA, Klintman racked up crazy numbers, being both the first Wake Forest freshman to record multiple double-doubles since 2018 and the first Wake Forest freshman to record a double-double in an ACC Tournament game since school legend Tim Duncan.
Bobi kept his run at Wake Forest surprisingly short, initially declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft and then ultimately leaving the team.
Later that same year, he embarked on another challenge in yet a different country, signing with the Cairns Taipans as part of the Australian National Basketball League’s (NBL) Next Stars program.
Described by Taipans head coach Adam Forde as a modern NBA “prototype,” Klintman set his career high in points (24), rebounds (12), and assists (3) in three separate games during the season. Despite spending only one season with the team, Bobi says his time in Australia was one of profound growth.
“Every day you gotta give it your all, because everything leads up to [the team] winning the game,” he explains. “If I take my team [for] example, we lost the playoffs by one game, and that just shows how important it really is to win every game. It’s a small margin of error, so you gotta be the best version of yourself.”
Believing in his abilities is what has guided Klintman through the journey of success. His ability to mold himself, to adapt to such drastic changes in his career is what he believes will spark the fire he needs to conquer his next journey: the NBA.
Bobi has always had his heart set on NBA dreams. But to hear his name being called in June felt completely unreal.
“[I think] back to that, when [my brother and I] were sitting on the couch talking,” he recalled. “We [were] like, ‘That’s gon’ be us one day.’ I can’t even explain it, I’m still speechless about it.”
Klintman and his family were close to tears after the Swedish star was selected to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves–and traded the same day to the Detroit Pistons–essentially turning faraway dreams into a reality.
Despite not being selected in the first round—which would have made him the first Swedish player ever to be drafted that high—Klintman is eager to show his American counterparts the merits behind his roots.
“I feel like a lot of people who play basketball in Europe are pretty tough mentality-wise, because you gotta do a lot by yourself,” he says. “I feel like we have a different type of mentality. So I’ve been [trying to] keep that my whole life. I wouldn’t say I have a chip on [my] shoulder, but [something] like the same thing.”
Klintman holds his family and his roots close to his heart as a reminder. Oftentimes, he misses being able to call his friends to play basketball or being able to eat his mom’s signature lasagna after a long day.
“That’s what I do it for. So not having [my family and friends] around has been hard,” he says. “But at the same time, we all growin’ up, we all got our goals, and we always support each other.”
As much as Klintman holds onto memories from growing up in Sweden, he recognizes that there’s another goal to be had in this new environment: “I want to win a championship.”
Photos via Getty Images. Portraits by Eli Selva. Edits by Alexander Zheng.
