Nando de Colo
French guard, EuroLeague champion and all-time European top scorer.
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Nando de Colo, a French guard who played both point and shooting guard, retired from professional basketball. He was selected to the All-EuroLeague team six times and helped CSKA Moscow win the EuroLeague championship in 2016 and 2019, taking home MVP and Final Four MVP honors. In 2022, he became the all-time leading scorer in European continental competitions.
Professional career
De Colo began his professional career in the 2006–07 season with Cholet Basket of the LNB Pro A. Under head coach Erman Kunter, he helped Cholet win the 2008 Semaine des As and reach the finals of the 2008 French Cup and the 2009 EuroChallenge. He left Cholet on 1 June 2009 and was selected 53rd overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. On 13 July 2009, he signed a three-year deal with Valencia of Spain, winning the 2010 EuroCup title and earning All-EuroCup First Team honors.
On 10 July 2012, de Colo announced he would not re-sign with Valencia to play in the NBA, signing a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs on 13 July 2012. During his rookie and sophomore seasons, he had multiple assignments with the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League and reached the 2013 NBA Finals with the Spurs, losing to the Miami Heat in seven games. On 20 February 2014, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Austin Daye. On 9 July 2014, de Colo signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League.
In May 2015, he was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team. In the 2014–15 season, CSKA Moscow advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four for the fourth straight season after eliminating Panathinaikos in the quarterfinals. Despite being favored to reach the finals, CSKA lost to Olympiacos 70–68 in the semifinal, then defeated Fenerbahçe 86–80 for third place. De Colo averaged a career-high 14.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game over 28 games.
On 21 May 2015, he won the VTB United League MVP Award, and CSKA Moscow finished the season by winning the VTB United League championship after sweeping Khimki 3–0 in the finals.
National team career
De Colo is a regular member of the senior French national team. He won a silver medal at EuroBasket 2011, a gold medal at EuroBasket 2013, and a bronze medal at EuroBasket 2015, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
He played at the 2012 London Olympics, scoring seven points against the United States. He was MVP of the 2016 Manila FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He retired from the French national team after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Career statistics and honours
Medals
- Silver Summer Olympics — 2020 Tokyo Team
- Silver Summer Olympics — 2024 Paris Team
- Bronze FIBA World Cup — 2019 China
- Gold EuroBasket — 2013 Slovenia
- Silver EuroBasket — 2011 Lithuania
- Bronze EuroBasket — 2015 France–Croatia–Germany–Latvia
EuroLeague
| † | Denotes season in which De Colo won the EuroLeague |
| * | Led the league |
| ‡ | EuroLeague record |
Domestic leagues
| Year | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | Cholet | Pro A | 32 | 21.0 | .482 | .365 | .895 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .0 | 7.0 |
| 2007–08 | Cholet | Pro A | 31 | 28.5 | .452 | .393 | .861 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 1.8 | .1 | 14.8 |
| 2008–09 | Cholet | Pro A | 27 | 28.2 | .444 | .352 | .875 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.0 | .1 | 14.7 |
| 2009–10 | Valencia | ACB | 33 | 26.0 | .462 | .387 | .915 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | .8 | 13.2 |
| 2010–11 | Valencia | ACB | 32 | 19.8 | .474 | .275 | .918 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 1.0 | .1 | 10.3 |
| 2011–12 | Valencia | ACB | 41 | 27.1 | .424 | .360 | .864 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 1.5 | .0 | 13.5 |
| 2012–13 | Austin Toros | D-League | 3 | 34.8 | .380 | .235 | 1.000 | 5.7 | 7.3 | 2.0 | — | 15.3 |
| 2013–14 | Austin Toros | D-League | 8 | 35.9 | .496 | .257 | .933 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 2.4 | .4 | 21.9 |
| 2014–15 | CSKA Moscow | VTBUL | 32 | 23.3 | .527 | .441 | .899 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 1.4 | .1 | 14.6 |
| 2015–16 | CSKA Moscow | VTBUL | 36 | 23.2 | .499 | .390 | .958 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 1.5 | .1 | 16.6 |
| 2016–17 | CSKA Moscow | VTBUL | 24 | 22.8 | .567 | .411 | .920 | 2.5 | 4.4 | 1.2 | .0 | 17.3 |
| 2017–18 | CSKA Moscow | VTBUL | 26 | 22.5 | .547 | .476 | .940 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 1.1 | .1 | 16.6 |
| 2018–19 | CSKA Moscow | VTBUL | 25 | 22.1 | .545 | .474 | .943 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.0 | .1 | 15.5 |
| 2019–20 | Fenerbahçe | TBSL | 13 | 28.4 | .549 | .469 | .844 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 1.5 | .1 | 17.4 |
| 2020–21 | Fenerbahçe | TBSL | 17 | 26.6 | .508 | .351 | .929 | 3.1 | 5.5 | .9 | .1 | 18.1 |
| 2021–22 | Fenerbahçe | TBSL | 21 | 23.5 | .513 | .446 | .948 | 2.3 | 4.7 | 1.1 | .0 | 15.0 |
| 2022–23 | ASVEL | LNB Élite | 29 | 20.9 | .537 | .458 | .944 | 2.2 | 3.9 | .8 | .0 | 15.3 |
| 2023–24 | ASVEL | LNB Élite | 22 | 18.3 | .465 | .432 | .910 | 2.0 | 4.1 | .9 | .0 | 10.7 |
| 2024–25 | ASVEL | LNB Élite | 34 | 18.5 | .436 | .371 | .931 | 1.4 | 4.0 | .8 | .0 | 9.0 |
| 2025–26 | ASVEL | LNB Élite | 8 | 17.5 | .378 | .233 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 3.9 | .3 | .1 | 8.3 |
| 2025–26 | Fenerbahçe | TBSL | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Nando de Colo (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
Did You Know?
- De Colo was born in Sainte-Catherine-lès-Arras, France to parents who were both born and raised in Portugal.
- He attended Lycée Fernand Renaudeau in Cholet and made his first appearance on the Cholet Under-20 team in 2004–05.
More in Basketball Players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Nando de Colo (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
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