Perhaps the easiest way to think about Zachary Risacher's game is to compare it to his English. Both are careers in progress, befitting a 19-year-old NBA rookie who was born in Spain to French parents and has spent most of his life in France. Neither is fully polished, but both are probably better than you'd expect. And both will get much, much better in the long run.
The state of his English was evident during an hour-long interview in New York City in October: Risacher showed a strong grasp of the language, much of which was picked up from teammates in LNB Elite, France's top league. , where he made his senior team debut as a 16-year-old in 2021 and spent the next three seasons. He says: “It's an English locker room, not what you expect to learn in a classroom.” There were also movies, mostly hoop flicks like that He got the Game again Coach Carterthey just managed to watch it without the French overdubs. “They were actually better at English, really.”
Based on the first impressions of the NBA preseason, Risacher's time in the French league had little benefit in the development of his game. The 6-8, 200-pound wing, the No. 1 overall pick by Atlanta in the 2024 NBA Draft, had a dream debut in his NBA debut, scoring 18 points (on 7-9 shooting) in 6 minutes -23 only to beat the Pacers. Those numbers, and that result, may not count against the Hawks' hopes of a bounce-back season, but the number of Risacher's outings is unreal.
Just ask these two guys who are as valuable appraisals as anyone in the ATL.
“It looks like he was enjoying himself,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder told reporters after the game. “He's going to have good games, he's going to have bad games, but to see him really happy playing with his teammates, and those guys getting along better, I enjoyed it.”
Trae Young, a wing player for the Hawks, was also happy to see it in his new running mate. “Those were exciting games,” Young said. “I want him to feel like he felt tonight, like there's no pressure on him. He can go out there and be himself. You will have a good career.”
None of this should surprise us—by definition, we expect big things from No. 1 picks. 1—but the noise about Risacher was not at the level that his countryman, Victor Wembanyama, made before and after the Spurs made him a player. top pick a year earlier. So, no, he hasn't been anointed a generational game-changer like Wemby—and, according to the opinions of the 30 general managers who participated in the annual NBA GM survey, is he a front-runner for Rookie of the Year. (Five players received at least one vote in the poll, and Risacher was somehow not one of them.) None of that seemed to bother him at all. Risacher knows his value, and is confident that the glimpses he showed in the preseason are just the beginning.
“I'm the type of player who can do many things on the field—the word would be 'flexible,' I think, in English?” you prune. “The exciting part is having me on your team…I'll be happy to do whatever it takes to win. I'm that kind of player. And I want to win.”
Versatility on the court comes easily to a player whose game is born.
“Basketball is a habit for me and my family,” he said. “Basketball was already there before I was born.” That's what happens when you're born in the middle of your father's 23-year career, as Zachary was. Risacher was born in Malaga, Spain, in 2005, where his father, Stéphane, was looking for Baloncesto Malaga in the Spanish top division. That was one of 10 stops on Stéphane's professional resume in a career that spanned from 1987 to 2010 and included success in Greece and his French heritage. An All-Star in France and a member of that country's Basketball Hall of Fame, Stéphane was also on the French national team for many years, winning a silver medal with the 2000 Olympic team—and as it happens, one of the 10 men on the court when -Vince Carter made the worst poster ever for his French colleague, Frederic Weis.
This dunk de la mort it happened five years before Zaccharie was born, so you only know about YouTube clips. But of his earliest memories, naturally, many are connected to basketball. He says: “I don't even remember when I started playing. “It was just there. Going to my dad's practices and games, coming to the gym with him when I was really young—I just did it, and I never stopped playing basketball. It was a lifestyle I loved. I never felt like I had to. I just wanted to be in the gym with my dad. I started to get better, and I wanted to be a better person than I was and accomplish what my father had done—and even better.”
Risacher insists that his father did not push too hard, but simply gave his son the direction he asked for. (Apparently, this approach runs in the family: Stéphane not only helped Zaccharie reach the NBA, but his daughter, Zaccharie's younger sister, Ainhoa, is one of Europe's young prospects; she was recently named one of the best FIBA U17 players. World Cup says Zaccharie, “I'm proud of him, I'm happy for him that I can shoot better than him a better ball than me.” Tall, likes to play the point, passes well.
Zaccharie's breakthrough happened when he made his debut in the French league for the senior team in ASVEL Basket in 2021. No matter how helpful his father was, the child had to learn for himself how to play, with older men playing an important role. have salaries and jobs on the line. Looking back, he says, “Becoming an artist at the age of 16, that was the biggest challenge of my life. In our league, a coach can be fired very quickly. They don't have time to be nice. A 16-year-old boy has a lot to handle. You have to learn fast, because you are playing with old men. You just have to learn how to deal with it. How did I handle it? That I never stopped working.”
Risacher thrived, earning LNB All-Star status in 2023 and being named a EuroCup Rising Star earlier this year; more importantly, the experience strengthened him, giving him the confidence that when he jumped into the NBA, he would be better prepared than most rookies to appreciate the stakes. It made it so much easier to settle in after moving to the States. He says he “felt at home very quickly” in Atlanta, which he credits to the vibe of the city and the Hawks organization. Despite the good vibes, he has taken that transition seriously, working hard between draft camp and training camp. “I wanted to be better than I was in June,” he stressed.
He also had a chance to team up with his All-Star teammate, a successful partnership that is vital to the Hawks' hopes of improving on last season's disappointment. Recent highlights: Traveling to Oklahoma to visit Young in his hometown, catching an OU football game and appearing on Young's podcast. “I really appreciate that,” Risacher said of the trip. “That meant something to me.”
A rookie doesn't need his own podcast to return the favor. He just needs to keep playing football, work on improving his strength and versatility that convinced Atlanta to use the No. 1 pick on him. The results will no doubt mean something to Trae, his new franchise and the long-suffering Hawks fans who are determined to fight for a contender.
Photos by Christian Quezada.
Photo via Getty Images.
