Back in France after having won everything in Europe, nando de colo is not there to make up the numbers. The double EuroLeague champion still has the same motivation and the same ambitions. Present at the Media Day of the National Basketball League, he answered questions about his arrival at ASVEL, his absence during EuroBasket and the end of his career.
You skipped the Euro this year. If France had won the competition, would you have regretted not being European champion?
Nando de Colo: I am not a person who lives with regrets. This summer, I skipped the France team because I’ve been there since 2008 and I haven’t missed a summer. To be honest, I needed to breathe, to spend time with my wife and my three daughters. Then I also think of my career as a whole. I didn’t say no to the France team, I just said that I was taking a break to be able to start even stronger from 2023, at the World Cup, and finish at the Paris Olympics. Again, it’s not just to say goodbye to the France team. It is clearly to get results. In no case do I have any regrets.
You signed with ASVEL this summer. Was it important for you to come back to France after 13 years spent abroad?
Nando de Colo: My priority was first to stay in a club that plays in the EuroLeague. The club in question happens to play in the French league, so it’s a plus to be able to find rooms that I knew more than thirteen years ago. Even for family life, we are happy to be able to come to France.
Was ASVEL self-evident? How was your arrival?
Nando de Colo: To be honest, no. It was not obvious. I had contacts with Valencia, for example. Very interesting project, rather similar to the one ASVEL can have today. The only problem is that they were on a single EuroLeague year. They did not know exactly what the year 2023-2024 was going to give. With all due respect to the club, I couldn’t see myself going there for a year. It was a personal goal to be able to stay in the Euroleague. I also had contacts with Monaco. I obviously had the proposal from Fenerbahçe. And then ASVEL which has positioned itself.
Tony (Parker, the president of the club, editor’s note) explained the project to me. After thinking with my wife, I decided to sign with ASVEL. Very interesting project, which will not be easy. A top eight in the EuroLeague, which has a high goal. This is a team that wants to evolve. I’m here to bring my experience and what I can do on the pitch to help the team. Once again, as we like to say in France, I am not retired. Two more years to give my all, whether in training and even more in matches, to evolve further.
Did the fact that Tony Parker is president of ASVEL play a role in your decision or facilitate things?
Nando de Colo: No way. Of course, I know Tony. He happens to be the president of ASVEL, but any president could have called me at that time. It is the project that is important. I also needed to talk to TJ (Parker, the team coach, editor’s note). That was the most important thing for me, knowing what the coach’s philosophy is. I knew TJ, but I didn’t know exactly how he is on a daily basis. When I spoke to him on the phone, we said things clearly. This is also what weighed in the balance.
Since your departure from Cholet in 2009, the public has seen you grow up in Europe or the United States. How do you judge your development and the player, the man you have become?
Nando de Colo: I think I went my own way. I have always tried to distinguish between what is happening on the field and what is happening outside. On the field, I followed what basketball offered me. We often have all these voices on the side who think better than us, who tell us what to do. Me, I’m lucky to be in an environment that knows basketball well, to be in a fairly limited circle of friends who allow me to see things well. And then, gradually, I also created my family life, I met my wife in Spain. We have three daughters today. I am well, fulfilled, and I hope to continue to blossom on the pitch.
We see more and more a race for the NBA and the draft among young people. You proved that we could have a great career by staying in Europe. Is it something you talk about to young people?
Nando de Colo: It depends on each other. What I try to explain to them is what they can evolve from day to day. The goals they have thereafter depend only on them. Sometimes we are well surrounded. Sometimes, we listen a little too much to what is being said on the side. All routes are different. I think that above all you have to be in agreement with your choices. We like to ask the question about Victor Wembanyama and the fact that he went to Levallois. But that is not my choice. It is his. If he had wanted to evolve with me, would he have progressed better? I do not know. I would surely have taught him some things. But I would surely have learned from him as well, because I think it goes both ways.
The choices are made depending on each other. There are a lot of them showing up for the Draft. Afterwards, there are not many who go to the NBA. We know that Europe is and increasingly interesting. I prefer to make the career I made in Europe, rather than fifteen years in the NBA without ever going for a final. It’s in my genes. I can’t just play basketball. There have to be goals. There has to be this pressure, it has to be good, that every day I go to training for something.
You had a busy career and you won almost everything at club level. Is it difficult to keep the same motivation after so many years?
It’s complicated, yes, because the body evolves. But it’s not complicated in terms of motivation. I think the day I get tired of going to the gym will be the day I have to hang up my sneakers, clearly. It’s either the body that no longer follows or the mind that is fed up, we should really move on. But it would be a shame to stop if we still have the capacity to continue. Today, I am a motivated person. If I don’t arrive an hour or an hour and a half before at the gym to get ready for training, there is a problem. Anyone who knows me on a daily basis knows that. I know that it is through these sacrifices that success comes.
You still have good years to give, but you are getting closer to retirement. Do you see yourself in a new role as a mentor in the next few years? And why no coach or assistant coach?
Nando de Colo: There are things that go through your head, of course. We must not hide it, I am more towards the end of my career than towards the beginning. So you have to think about this post-career. But today, I am not yet really in this dynamic. Like I said, I’m still two years old. I know that there are big goals that must be achieved, that people are counting on me. I think and hope there will be a few more years after. It will obviously depend on what my body and mind are willing to endure. I think I can still do a few more years.
I am someone who likes to teach, share. I was able to learn as my career progressed, whether it was when I started, in the NBA or on the different teams in which I was able to evolve. So stay in basketball? Yes, I think that will be the logical continuation. Now, going back to a career as a coach, to travel… I’m not sure that will interest me right away. I think it will be time to really dedicate myself to my daughters, to their evolution in all that they will do. But that will not prevent us from seeing the opportunities that may arise. I have a few in mind.
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