The 6-foot-9, 215-pound Risacher, who played in France’s top professional league last season, should give the team versatility on both ends of the court and they can move him up and down the field. alignment between the two and the four.
“I am a versatile player,” Risacher told reporters. “I feel like I can fit easily into this team. I’m looking forward to finding out what my role or goals are going to be, or, you know, just making sure we win games. So I don’t know yet, but I know I can do a lot of things. Defend several positions, grab a few rebounds, finish strong, be aggressive, shoot threes obviously.
“I think it’s going to be – it’s part of my game. It’s something I have to maintain to help the team win next season, because I know we’re going to have to shoot the ball. And that’s all.”
But the 19-year-old hasn’t thought too far ahead as he reflects on the emotions of arriving in the league. Risacher comes from a basketball family where his father Stéphane played professionally in Europe and has a long list of accomplishments.
His father won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won a Spanish league championship with Club Baloncesto Malaga.
Watching his father play, as well as the backyard clashes between the two of them, fueled Risacher’s drive to win.
“It started very young, because I was playing with my dad in the backyard, but it could be like basketball, soccer, volleyball or whatever,” the younger Risacher said. “And I always lost. So I think that’s how my competitiveness was born. I just wanted to beat my father.
Unfortunately for the 19-year-old, he never had the chance to beat his father in basketball. He said his father retired from the game before he had the chance to beat him.
“Three years ago he beat me, it was a close match,” he said. “And then he just said, ‘I’m out, I’ll never play you again.’ So I’m undefeated And so now I can tell the world that I never beat my father.
But with the Hawks taking Risacher on Wednesday night, he became the first in his basketball family to be drafted into the NBA. They will stay connected because basketball bonded them together and in the way they express themselves.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Like basketball is fundamentally who I am. I’m not just a basketball player, but it’s part of my DNA because basketball existed before I was born because of my father. I really have the impression that at home, we discuss, we experience basketball. But what’s important is that we keep it simple and it’s never too much. And it basically comes down to (how) to express ourselves. Basketball is simple for us. And when it all happens, right at the end of the day, basketball, and that means a lot to us.
As he becomes more familiar with the NBA game, his new teammates and his new home, he will have the language of basketball to help him in his transition.
“Right now, I just — I just know the Hawks facilities,” Risacher said. “I can’t wait to get there and work in these conditions. I think it’s a lifestyle I’m not used to. I’m talking gym, cold baths, locker rooms, whatever. I feel like if I could sleep in the gym. In Bourg-en-Bresse, which is also a great gymnasium, but not as good as that of the Faucons. I can actually sleep in the gym.
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