“Very happy”, Zaccharie Risacher enjoys his first

Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher, No. 1 in the draft in June, said he was “very happy” with the first match of his NBA career after the success of the Atlanta Hawks against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday at home (120-116).

Substitute at the kick-off, the young winger entered at the end of the first quarter, for a dream first ball: pass from Trae Young, successful three-point shot with congratulations from the All-Star leader of the Hawks, and the cheers of the audience.

“I’m running, we’re in transition, he turns around, passes me, I’m all alone. I take hundreds of shots like this every day, so I’m pretty comfortable in that situation. And there it fits. It was a lot of emotions, he congratulated me, I was very excited, he was happy for me, I was happy for me too. But we had to quickly get back on defense and move on because the match didn’t have time to stop for those moments,” said Risacher in the locker room after the match.

“I am super happy and very happy with this premiere. I hope that little by little, it will continue in this direction and that it will get better and better for the future,” added the 19-year-old Frenchman, author of 7 points in 19 minutes.

Author of a nice dunk, Risacher was also clumsy (2 out of 8 shooting, including 1 out of 4 from distance, 2 out of 4 on throws): “I found it a little frustrating. Mentally, you can climb very high at the very beginning. And afterward, I lack success at mid-distance and from afar. But it was good, natural, I didn’t force it.”

The young Frenchman played under the eyes of his parents, including his father Stéphane, a former French international. “I am very happy that they were there, to be able to share this with them, to show them my daily life, my new life.”

“I can’t wait to be in two days to be able to play again,” against Charlotte, Risacher concluded.