Almansa was born in Murcia, Spain, to Cristina Almansa, a Murcia native, and Steve Horton, an American professional basketball player for CB Murcia.[1][2] After Horton retired, he returned to the United States.[1] Almansa grew up in Spain playing association football and dreamed of playing it professionally.[1][3] He did not begin to play basketball until he was nine years old, following a friend who had signed up.[1] Almansa initially joined the UCAM Murcia youth ranks and measured 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) by age 12.[4] In his final year with UCAM, he led the Infantil (under-14) squad to a sixth-place finish at the Spanish National Championship – the club's best performance ever at the Infantil level – while averaging 18 points and 18 rebounds per game.[5] In a group stage victory over La Salle Laguna, he recorded 32 points, 28 rebounds, and six steals.[6]
In the summer of 2019, Almansa was recruited by Real Madrid.[1][7] He went on to play two years with the Real Madrid Cadete (under-16) team.[1][8] Almansa also played three games with the Real Madrid reserves in the fourth-tier Liga EBA during the 2020–21 season.[9]
Professional career
Team OTE (2021–2022)
On 5 August 2021, Almansa signed with the Overtime Elite (OTE), a professional basketball league for high school-aged players, ahead of its inaugural season.[10] In the 2021–22 season, he played for Team OTE against the other two OTE teams, as well as prep schools and postgraduate teams.[11][12] Almansa averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range.[11]
YNG Dreamerz (2022–2023)
Ahead of the 2022–23 OTE season, Almansa was drafted by the YNG Dreamerz, one of six teams in a restructured league.[13] In his second season in the competition, he averaged 9.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, finishing fifth in the league in the latter category.[14] In the final regular-season game, Almansa recorded 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to clinch the second seed.[14] He helped his team reach the championship series, where they lost to the City Reapers, led by twins Amen and Ausar Thompson.
NBA G League Ignite (2023–2024)
On 30 June 2023, Almansa signed with the NBA G League Ignite.[15] In his team debut on 10 November, he recorded seven points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a 107–102 loss to the Ontario Clippers.[16] Almansa recorded his first double-double two weeks later against the South Bay Lakers, putting up 22 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.[17] He was chosen to compete in both the Rising Stars Challenge and the G League Next Up Game at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.[18] In 48 games with the Ignite, Almansa averaged 10.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game on 54.3 percent shooting.[18]
On 23 April 2024, Almansa announced that he had declared for the 2024 NBA draft;[19] his entry was confirmed by the NBA on 2 May.[20] However, he subsequently withdrew his name on 16 June to explore options in Europe and Australia.[21]
Almansa led the national under-17 team to a silver-medal finish at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain, which was their first-ever medal at the event.[23] He averaged 12.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game on 55.7 percent shooting and was named the tournament MVP – the first non-American player to ever win the award.[1][23] Spain lost in the final to the United States, with Almansa recording nine points, 15 rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 79–67 defeat.[23]
Just a few weeks after the U17 World Cup, Almansa represented the national under-18 team at the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship in Turkey. He averaged 15.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 25 minutes per game, leading Spain to a gold medal and winning tournament MVP honors once again.[24] He became the first player to ever win tournament MVP awards at both the FIBA U17 World Cup and the FIBA U18 European Championship.[24]
