101 Greats of European Basketball

wisdom to mature Ginobili, Jaric, Smodis and David
Andersen, who at that time were all very young.”
And, Messina concluded about Rigaudeau: “He was
a gentleman both on and off the court.”
Medal in Belgrade
Before the 2001 EuroBasket in Turkey, Rigaudeau
announced his retirement from the national team. He
stayed two more seasons with Kinder and after 181
games in the Italian league, averaging 13.4 points, 2.5
rebounds and 1.7 assists, he decided to go to the NBA.
He was 32 years old then and it was a last chance to try
his luck. He signed with Dallas but didn’t find his place.
After playing in just 11 games and scoring 17 points with
Dallas and Golden State, he decided to return to Europe.
Rigaudeau’s next stop was Valencia, where he
signed for three seasons. He returned to the EuroLeague
in 2003-04 because the previous season, Valencia
had won the Eurocup. In 19 games, Rigaudeau
contributed as always: 14.8 points, 2.3 assists, 1.8
rebounds. In the regular season against ALBA Berlin,
he scored 25 points. In the Top 16 against Zalgiris, he
scored 21. Over two years in the Spanish League, his
average through 49 games was 13.4 points. 2.6 assists
and 1.8 rebounds.
Rigaudeau surprised everyone by deciding to return
to the French national team for the 2005 EuroBasket in
Belgrade, Serbia.
I was in Novi Sad for what was the biggest upset of
the tournament: Serbia & Montenegro 71, France 74.
Zeljko Obradovic’s “Dream Team” – with Bodiroga, Darko
Milicic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Igor Rakocevic, Marko
Jaric, Zeljko Rebraca, Nenad Krstic, Dejan Tomasevic,
Milan Gurovic, Dejan Milojevic and Vule Avdalovic –
crashed out against the French team with Rigaudeau
(14 points), Tony Parker (13), Mickael Gelabale (12), Boris
Diaw (10), Mickael Pietrus (8), Cyril Julian (6), Florent
Pietrus (5) and Frederic Weis (4). Rigaudeau’s average
for the tournament was 7.9 points, just the fifth-best
scorer for France. But in that decisive battle in Novi Sad,
he played brilliantly, with good shooting as well as 5
rebounds and 2 assists in 28 minutes. Later in the tournament,
France beat Spain for the bronze medal, taking
its first place on a EuroBasket podium in 46 years.
On October 30, 2005, despite having a year left on
his contract with Valencia, Rigaudeau announced his
retirement. “Voices inside me advised me that I should
stop,” Rigaudeau said. A decade later, in 2015, he was
recognized for his great career with induction into the
FIBA Hall of Fame. Later that year, after a short stint of
coaching at Paris Levallois, Rigaudeau decided that the
bench was not for him. As such, European basketball
still awaits the return of “Le Roi”.
101 greats of european basketball
Antoine igaudeau
R