The father of this season's EuroLeague Rising Star is rooting his son on at the BKT EuroCup Finals
Stephane Risacher: 'Basketball is all over our family'
Interviews
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The Risacher family is front and center at the BKT EuroCup Finals.
Forward Zaccharie Risacher, the 2023-24 EuroCup Rising Star, is starring for Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse and his father, former EuroLeague star Stephane Risacher, is in town, too.
Stephane is one of four legends who came to Bourg en Bresse to teach young players at a clinic organized by the French League. He was joined by Antoine Rigaudeau, Frederic Weis and Laurent Foirest. And the proud papa was pleased to chat about his son's success.
"He is playing well and seeing playing time. He's had some very good moments and some other tough ones," Stephane said. "But in general, if you look at his season since it started in September, I am very proud of him."
Stephane was a complete player who joined forces with Bourg coach Frederic Fauthoux at Pau-Orthez in the late 1990s. He also played for many different French clubs as well as for Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece, Unicaja Malaga and Murcia of Spain. Among his career highlights was winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the French national team alongside Rigaudeau, Weis and Foirest.
The elder Risacher said that he is very happy that Zaccharie chose Bourg, where he has played more and worked hard in the right environment.
"He needed to play and make the most out of his talent. He came here to do that and work with Freddy [Fauthoux]. I think he was the right person to help him adjust to the professional basketball world. Everything is going well," Stephane said.
Zaccharie was born in Malaga, Spain, and followed his father throughout his career around Europe. There were never doubts as to his favorite sport, as even though he had choices, Zaccharie was always into basketball. Stephane made sure he had everything he needed to practice at all times.
"Basketball is all over our family, it is our life story. We all play sports in general, but Zaccharie and his sister have always played basketball. They grew up playing basketball and always had a basketball in their hands," he said. "They shot a lot, too, as we always had a hoop everywhere we lived. That is the way we are."
Fast forward to the 2024 EuroCup Finals, Zaccharie has a chance to win his first European title at a professional level and his future looks brighter than ever. He is working hard every day to get better, and his father believes that fame will not change him because of his work ethic and loyalty to the people in his circle of trust.
"Fame is a part of the equation but we know what he needs to do, first and foremost, for himself. Everything will come to him through his effort. And also, he knows there are people around him that love him and will always love him, so after he has done all that hard work for himself, he knows there are people that will have his back," Stephane said. "Fame comes, goes, comes again and goes again. It is nothing special. He has to follow his way and know that the people that are important to him will always be with him."