Historic NBA draft for France ends with 5 Frenchmen selected after starting with top 2 picks
Zaccharie Risacher, walks across the stage after being selected as the first overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Julia Nikhinson]
The NBA may have to rethink the timing of its draft. Not the month or the new two-day format. Just the hour it starts. Paris is six hours ahead of New York. French basketball fans eager to see history had to stay up into the wee hours of Thursday morning. The event began with France joining the United States as the only countries with three players selected within the top 10 picks of an NBA draft. Zaccharie Risacher (pronounced Ree-zah-shay) became the second player from France to be selected No. 1 overall on the heels of Victor Wembanyama going first last year. When this year’s draft ended, five French players had heard their names called.
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