The Frenchman is enjoying a career year with Baskonia
A conversation with Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot: When the game finally slows down
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17 Mins read
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot doesn’t look like he’s in a hurry anymore.
That’s the first thing that stands out. Not the scoring jump, not the percentages, not even his place near the top of the EuroLeague scoring charts. It’s the way he moves through possessions now – measured, controlled, unbothered by what comes next. The game unfolds at his pace.
A year ago, Luwawu-Cabarrot reached the 16-point mark just four times in 26 EuroLeague games with Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. This season, under first-year head coach Paolo Galbiati, he has done so in 20 of his first 22 appearances. The production has been steady, and the efficiency has come with it.
Luwawu-Cabarrot is fourth in the EuroLeague scoring race at 19.0 points per game, hurt by a poor game last Friday at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Still, just three players are ahead of him: Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens's Kendrick Nunn (19.4 PPG), Olympiacos Piraeus's Sasha Vezenkov (19.4 PPG) and Paris Basketball’s Nadir Hifi (19.3 PPG). The leap from last season is dramatic.
In 2024-25, he averaged 10.0 points per game, shooting 43.4% on two-pointers and 33.7% from three, with a PIR of 7.3. This year, he has nearly doubled his output while lifting his efficiency to 56.6% inside the arc and 42.1% from deep, producing a PIR of 16.0.
Statistics explain part of the jump. The rest, Luwawu-Cabarrot says, comes from understanding when to push – and when to wait.
"First, the system is different. This is a system that fits me better," he told Euroleague.net. "I think also the consistency is coming from me being in the age of maturity. I think my calmness on the court is showing. I have no rush and let the game come to me, but I'm aggressive at the same time. Before, maybe I was rushing. Maybe I was trying to be too much. Now, with this system, I can just be myself playing the three (position). My teammates trust me, my coach trusts me.
"I think the fact that it's my second year with Baskonia helps a lot, too. I know my teammates and all players a little bit longer. I think it helps me feel more comfortable and have more confidence in myself."
That confidence shows most clearly in his shot profile. Luwawu-Cabarrot is taking more shots – especially from beyond the arc – and the extra volume has sharpened his decision-making rather than blunting it. He’s finding his spots on the wings, mixing in mid-range pull-ups, and using his size to finish through contact.
"The volume this year has been so much higher than last year. Last year, I could spend one full game without taking a three. This year, I don't know if I have one game without taking five. It's been a great year because the system is so much better for me. I can shoot more threes, which I'm good at. I can be aggressive going to the basket. When it's needed, I get to the mid-range area that I like a lot, too. I think it's also the volume that helps."
So far, he has attempted fewer than five three-pointers in just three games all season.
That trust runs both ways. Galbiati, despite never having played professionally, has earned buy-in through clarity and conviction – even when results didn’t come right away. Baskonia opened the EuroLeague season 0-7, the worst start in club history. Since then, the team has climbed to an 8-16 record and begun to resemble a team with an identity.
"He's a player’s coach. He listens to what we have to say and has his vision. At the beginning, of course, it was an adjustment. We started 0-7, then we started winning. It took the whole team to click at the same time for us to understand what we had to do on the court to win. But he had this vision since day one. He never faded away from this vision. We just all understood what it took to get to this point and to reach his goals and our goals as a team. We still have a lot of work to do, but this coach has been great.
"He's communicative. We watch a lot of videos. He has a lot of passion. He loves the game as much as we all do, even though he never played. And he's passionate. He watches games every day. He's talking about basketball 24 hours, seven days a week. I don't think he is taking any days off and it shows. We all respect that a lot. When you play basketball as a professional and you have a coach that never coached you, it's always like, 'OK, how is it going to be?' But the passion he brings and the way he sees basketball, we have to respect it. That's why it's been successful for us."
Some of Luwawu-Cabarrot’s deepest connections, though, go back long before Baskonia. Few matchups mean more to him than facing Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard Isaia Cordinier. The two grew up together in Antibes, were drafted in the same year in 2016, and have remained inseparable ever since – each serving as a witness at the other’s wedding.
"Man, it's been a journey. We got drafted together in 2016. This was one of the best days of my life, and probably his too. Just the fact to see him over there in Brooklyn, and being drafted the same year, knowing where we started, competing in Antibes against each other and playing together in the high competition in France. It's just crazy accomplishments. For him to be at this level right now, with all the problems he had injury-wise, is insane.
"I respect that so much. He's been so resilient throughout his career. When he got drafted, he went back to Antibes. I think he stayed there for three years. He didn't play for two years because he had problems with his knees. No one is coming back from a two-year hiatus of not playing basketball. It's super hard. The fact that he's here right now, playing in the EuroLeague, being one of the best players, and also reaching the silver medal with the national team in 2024 in Paris... all these accomplishments are so great."
A couple of weeks ago, a favorable schedule allowed Luwawu-Cabarrot to watch Cordinier live – this time from the stands.
"For us to be a part of his journey and our journey together is just amazing. Every time we play against each other, it's a special day. Tomorrow he's playing against Olympiacos at home. I will go to the game and be a fan, just watching him play."
During their Antibes years, Luwawu-Cabarrot also shared the floor with Willie Solomon, one of the first true EuroLeague stars he encountered as a teammate.
"When he came, he was older, but he was a game-changer. A point guard with this length, this wingspan, his ability to get to the basket, his ability to play defense, and also shoot threes, be clutch. He was a beast on the court. In clutch moments, he was the guy we were looking for.
"Me, as a kid, I was very, very impressed that he was doing this at this level at this age. But yeah, for sure, he was a great, great person to be around and a big superstar."
The advice that resonates most now came later, and from an unexpected source. Not from an NBA star or a EuroLeague legend, but from LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne veteran David Lighty.
"I would say David Lighty two years ago, he was great. Because these veterans, they don't talk too much, but when they give you advice, it's very precise and on the money. And he was telling me that I needed to be patient. And when the time is right, the game would slow down for me and I would be able to do anything I wanted to do on the court. And at that moment, I had no idea what he was talking about. Because I wanted to achieve everything I wanted to achieve at that moment, but I was not ready.
"It hit me this year. I thought back about that conversation we had, and it's right now. Like I said, I arrived at this age of maturity and now I can see what he was talking about when he said the game would slow down. Now I can see the spaces. Now I can see the way my defender is playing defense on me. The way the teams are playing defense on me. And all this, even though they have a full game plan against me, the game has slowed down. He was right when he told me that."
With his name near the top of the scoring charts, individual accolades are inevitable. But they’ve never been the priority.
“It’s definitely not a goal. It wasn’t a goal when I started the season. I just wanted to win games and play to the best of my ability. Now that I’m in the race, of course it’s something you’re aware of – but it’s not something I live and die for. If it happens, it happens, and it would be great. I would be very honored to lead the EuroLeague in scoring because it would mean a lot. But at the end of the day, it’s not the most important thing. I want to win games, especially in the second half of the season. And if that means averaging two or three fewer points, I’ll do it, because that’s what matters most.”
At this stage of his career, that perspective feels earned. The game has slowed down. The reads are clearer. And for Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, everything is finally arriving on time.