Victor Wembanyama, Elie Okobo, Chris Jones... After winning the title of French champion last weekend, Tony Parker announced that "his" Asvel was going to be "
looted
" during the off-season.
After the confirmation of the departure of the first named, the quadruple NBA champion however expressed, in an interview with our colleagues from
L'Équipe
, his ambition, that of "
building a competitive team
" in France of course, and in Euroleague.
He kept his word with this huge blow: Lyon-Villeurbanne formalizes the signing, for two years, of the French international Nando de Colo.
13 years after his departure from Cholet, in 2009, the 35-year-old Northerner, free at the end of his contract at Fenerbahçe, is back in France.
“
It is with great pride that we welcome Nando to our team
,” rejoices “TP”.
First of all, I would like to thank him for the trust placed in our project.
It is of course part of our desire and ambition to see the best French players evolve in our championship, but also to allow LDLC ASVEL to shine on the European scene
.
Euroleague living legend
The European scene, Nando de Colo knows it well, he who is a living legend of the Euroleague, competition in which he averages 15.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals in career.
In 2021-22, he was still averaging 11.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Heavy... The C1, he also won it twice during his long and brilliant stint at CSKA Moscow, in 2016 and 2019. He also lifted the Eurocup in 2010 with the Spanish club Valencia , he who however failed to win in the NBA, with the Spurs of Parker then Toronto (119 matches).
Legend in the Euroleague, but also in the French team.
From the top of his 185 selections, De Colo contributed to the conquest of the European title in 2013 and that of Olympic silver, last summer, in Tokyo.
In total, he pocketed five medals in Blues, he who will take a break this summer after giving up Euro 2022, like Nicolas Batum.
The opportunity for him to arrive fresh and available with Asvel at the start of next season, alongside Antoine Diot, Paul Lacombe, Charles Kahudi, David Lighty and other Matthew Strazel, and under the orders of the coach TJ Parker, extended to 2026.
Read alsoBasketball: Gruda, a legend at Asvel
"
Now that we have Victor's answer, we have to readjust because you don't build the same way with or without him
", had still declared to
L'Équipe
Tony Parker, who had already acted the arrival of another tricolor legend with Sandrine Gruda, among the girls.
With Nando de Colo, the readjustment is spectacular
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