A month ago, when Baskonia dispensed with the services of Dusko Ivanovic after completing a discreet fourth stage in Vitoria, I told Juan Morenilla, who regularly follows ACB and Euroleague basketball news in Morning Express, that what was truly audacious for the entity chaired by Josean Querejeta would be to try to sign Pablo Laso. We both agreed that it was very complicated – Laso had a current contract with Bayern Munich and possibly a high cache for the Vitorian budget – but that a hypothetical move like this could greatly benefit Baskonia, and Spanish basketball as a whole. What I could not imagine, in any case, is that this was going to happen, I thought that I was probably confusing my dreams with reality, although, on the other hand, I knew that the word “audacity” has been a constant in Baskonist history and I maintained a little hope.
In the video published yesterday on social media by Baskonia to announce Laso’s signing, they talk about “character, fight and appreciating the great moments lived” and remind us that “only those who have lived it know what we are talking about.” That’s right. Laso was a player before he was a coach and although the 22 titles won as a coach at Real Madrid define his career and more than support his landing on the bench in Vitoria, it is his time as a magnificent assistant point guard at Caja de Álava and Taugres, sponsor brands of the Alava club in the 11 seasons that he wore its shirt before signing for Madrid, that Baskonia fans remember most.
At the old Mendizorrotza, where nearly 3,000 people would gather to cheer on this fighting team that was fighting to be in the elite, Laso thrilled us with his assists (he gave out 2,879 in his career, number one in the ACB until this year, surpassed by Marcelinho Huertas with 2,964) and led his teammates to the club’s first successes. The Copa Asociación in 1985, a now-defunct tournament that barely lasted a few years, but above all the Copa del Rey in 1995, of which Laso was chosen as the MVP, were the first successes of a flood of titles that would come in the years to come, now without the brilliant Vitorian point guard in the ranks of Baskonia.
Laso made a decisive contribution to breaking the glass ceiling in Spanish basketball, which was then dominated by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Joventut. In the 15 years after that magical 1995, Baskonia won another five Copa del Rey titles, three ACB Leagues, four Super Cups and a European Cup Winners’ Cup, the club’s only continental title, and twice came within a step of being champions of the Euroleague, a tournament that Josean Querejeta’s Baskonia co-founded in its current format. However, since 2010, the man who has been the president of the club for 36 years has seen the team gradually lose momentum. Only one title in the last 15 seasons, the ACB won during the pandemic in that very strange tournament played without an audience in Valencia.
Winning trophies is not easy and competing in the current context of European and world basketball is not easy either, as Querejeta is right to point out in his few appearances in the media. But he and the club know that not even getting to play in the Cup in 2015, 2020, 2022 and 2024, perhaps the tournament that most emotionally unites the fans due to the number of people that Baskonia has historically brought to the final stages, or the recent failure to qualify this season for the playoffof the ACB for the first time in history, have been undermining the confidence of the fans in the present and the future.
Baskonia needed a hit. A punch of audacity. Laso is a man of the house, from Vitoria, forged in the courtyard of the San Viator school and then in Baskonia, super successful as a coach at Real Madrid, the best European coach in the last 10-15 years. A leader who transmits confidence and who will generate a lot of excitement in the city and the fans. He also signs for three seasons, which although in sport it may mean little later, today denotes the trust and commitment of both parties. Baskonia needed something like this after repetitive solutions such as the four stages with Dusko Ivanovic – thank you, Dusko, always -, three from Perasovic, two from Pedro Martínez or two from Sergio Scariolo. Laso is a novelty without being one, a shot of excitement in the Baskonia family. He is one of ours.
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