French teenager Zaccharie Risacher has told AFP he is staying humble as the number one draft pick enters his first NBA season with the Atlanta Hawks, following in the huge footsteps of compatriot Victor Wembanyama.
For the second year in a row, the 2024 top pick was not only a Frenchman, but like Wembanyama last year Risacher came from the French domestic league rather than through the US college system.
Just months ago Risacher, a 19-year-old, 6ft 9in (2.06m) forward, was playing in gyms holding a few thousand people for modest JL Bourg in France’s top division. Now he’ll be regularly performing in front of 20,000 people every night in the world’s top league.
It has been a whirlwind.
“I did my first house move on my own. All the things related to it had to be managed: my driver’s license, buying a car, finding a personal chef. It’s all to try to make my life as easy as possible, to prepare as best as possible for the season, so that everything then works out and goes well,” Risacher said, speaking at the Hawks training facility.
“It’s true that it’s a change. And doing that in another country, in another language, is quite complicated,” he added.
“I have a good team around me. I am very grateful for that. I feel like I’m making progress little by little. The most important thing is to work with your teammates, and to dare to ask questions.”
An essential part of that team around him is his father Stephane, a basketball player himself who plied his trade in some of Europe’s top leagues without ever making it to the NBA.
When Zaccharie was a child, his father put him through workouts using a hoop he had erected in the family’s garden — now Stephane is helping his son go through his paces in Atlanta.
So, did Zaccharie feel it was his destiny to reach the NBA?
“Not particularly,” he said. “I know that I am where I am because of me. Nobody forced me, nobody worked for me. I really think that I created this opportunity for myself, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
“Secondly though, once I had decided, as a child, that I wanted to follow this path, I was very well supported by my family.
“With my background and the experience that my father has, as soon as I decided to go for it, I had a good support network, whether it was to advise me on the court or even off it.”
Wembanyama, the 7ft 4in (2.23m) prodigy who lit up the league in his first season at the San Antonio Spurs, winning Rookie of the Year, is a tough act to follow.
However, Risacher says he is just trying to adjust to a different style of play compared to Europe.
“It’s the speed! It’s a really fast style of play here,” he said.
“In training games, there is a lot of going up and down the court. The other guys were used to that, both physically and mentally.
“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t ready but it’s a different playing style and I had to get my bearings and get used to it.”
