Laso: “Xavi Pascual told me he would climb the walls”

Pablo Laso (Vitoria, 1967) stopped being the coach of Real Madrid last summer after suffering a heart attack in June and the club deciding in July that he was not going to continue on the bench “for health reasons”. An unwanted goodbye after eleven seasons and 22 titles. “It was clear to me that I was not going to be at Real Madrid all my life”, assures the technician. But his departure is not simply that of a good coach after a successful period at a club, but that of someone who restored the lost glory from the bench to the most winning team in the history of European basketball. The one who brought the European Cup back to the White House twenty years later after two very hard decades, without continuity either in the results or in the identity. Because before the titles, the recovery of the style arrived, that of Madrid’s speed of defense, rebounding and counterattack (and high scoring), which was linked to the glorious stages of Pedro Ferrándiz and Lolo Sainz in the decades of the 60s, 70s and early 80s. With Laso, that golden age was resumed. Trophies and something else, an era that began with his signing in the summer of 2011 and with a great decision by the club: the transfer to the Palacio de Deportes.

For all that it has meant in recent years for Real Madrid and for Spanish basketball, with a recovery of the game-show, due to the transmission of very marked hallmarks, Pablo Laso will receive the 2022 AS Sports Award on December 20. A recognition of his career as a coach that will surely gain momentum shortly. He already has more than a thousand games directed (860 only in Madrid with 659 victories) and perhaps one day he will reach 2,000 because he keeps his passion for his work very much alive.

We spoke with him, he stressed that he does not want to fuel the controversy surrounding his departure from Madrid, that he is very grateful to the club for the opportunity it gave him and that it is time to look forward. And he makes it clear that he is in optimal conditions to train any team, with medical reports involved, a situation in which he affected after the departure of the Merengue club so that no one doubted his future: “IM perfectlyWhat is the most important. It is time to find a place where I feel good to train, where the work I do is valued and I identify with what I can give to the team”.

The range of options in Europe is narrow and perhaps the higher you have reached it is more difficult to find a team that meets your expectations: “It is always difficult to differentiate between teams and know which one is going to do well for you. If you take everything to the economic issue, if they offer you 10 in one place and 9 in another, you go to 10; but that is not my way of being or thinking. For me the most important thing now is to feel comfortable in a place and to be valued. It motivates me that a certain club believes that it will take a step forward with me. And no, it is not essential that he play in the Euroleague”.

Laso is still moved by the spontaneous displays of affection from fans and public figures and colleagues, such as the ones recently shown to him by the presenter and comedian Javier Coronas and two top technicians such as Obradovic and Ataman, who send him heartfelt recognition and the desire to see him face to face again on the side of the track: “They are people who have seen me work or who have known what I am like for years. These displays of affection are exciting, because The most beautiful thing in life is that they talk about you with respect, affection and admiration”.

Since he began his professional journey, with his debut as a player in 1984 at Baskonia, still at the age of 16, he has spent half of his career dressed in shorts (19 seasons to be the historical leader in assists in the ACB with 2,896 in 624 games and in recoveries with 1,219) and the other half in suits on the bench (another 19 campaigns, one in Castellón, another in Valencia, another in Cantabria, four in Gipuzkoa and eleven at Real Madrid plus one year without directing, between 2005 and 06 , the only one without action in almost 40). Lolo Sainz recognized us in the Hall of Fame that he always felt like a coach more than a player; but, in his case, Laso sees it the other way around: “I feel like a player, I can’t help it. What I liked the most was playing and the luck is that I have done it at a very high level. And then I have also been able to train at a very high level”. With this confession, we grant him a wish, rub a lamp and go back for a few hours to a specific moment in his career. And the man from Vitoria responds with an anecdote under the effects of anesthesia: “I had an elbow injury at Real Madrid and they operated on me in Vitoria, Alfonso del Corral (former player and club doctor) was present. Anesthetized, they tell me that he was talking about the Copa del Rey final that I won with Baskonia (in 1995, when he was named MVP), so if my unconscious led me to that final in Granada… ”.

In almost 40 seasons he has always been active in the elite, except for the aforementioned year between the benches, so we asked him how he has had it so far this year: “I really miss the day to day, getting up and preparing a match, because I feel that this is my life.. Although I still think it’s a good time to take things easy, to practice sports in the morning, watch games calmly, not travel so much and do things with the family. I even lack some time”.

In the conversation with Laso a question arises, as it seems he would be willing to take a team immediately or perhaps he considers that it would be better to wait until the start of the next season, also for a matter of planning: “The way I am, I would train tomorrow morning, I can’t help it. However, I must have the necessary patience to know that both I and the club that wants to sign me want the same thing”. While this is happening, he does not stop watching matches from any competition: “NBA, Euroleague, Endesa League… Other foreign leagues such as the German, Italian, Greek… Of course, with each passing day I am more selective because I already recognize the situations , the teams and the players”.

A coach’s career is one of constant evolution, so it is “sure” that Pablo Laso in 2023 will not be the same as the previous one: “The coach must keep an idea of ​​what he wants, if he doesn’t have it, I think that you are wrong. And if the coach’s idea is above the players, he is also wrong. Adaptation is required and that is the great victory for a team to do well. Neither Laso will impose a style nor will the players impose it on him. Agreeing on that is the only thing unalterable over time.”

We interrogate him for its Madrid, in case you fancy seeing the whites or it causes you some bitterness: “Yes, I watch the games, but not all. I also see the EBA team, for example”. Do you observe many changes or do you appreciate continuity? “Madrid has made important and basic additions to the idea of ​​the team this year. Musa, Hezonja and Cornelie are new people, although for me Tavares and Deck are key, and that’s what I see. Madrid is a great team built to win everything”. And furthermore, who motivates him: “I really like Baskonia because three of its outside players, Thompson, Howard and Henry, give it a different dimension and make it very attractive. At the European level, Olympiacos seems super solid to me, capable of playing in any register. The lack of Russian teams has made the Euroleague very even and competitive”.

Among those absent, Xavi Pascual’s Zenit, led by a great coach who went through a situation similar to that of the man from Vitoria after leaving Barcelona in 2016. “I have a very good relationship with Xavi, I consider him a friend whom I highly respect professionally and admire as a person. We spoke in preseason and he told me: ‘At first you’re going to be climbing the walls, because you think you’re going to watch all the games… You have to take it easy’. We have been great contenders and the conversations with him are a great lesson for me.

Pablo Laso makes the most of life with his family and friends while he awaits the moment to return to the bench, to the right place to resume his coaching career, that of a Spanish basketball legend.