Hawks at Euro Basketball 2025

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Four Hawks to take part in FIBA Eurobasket 2025

The Hawks are going global



With the summer in full swing, international basketball takes the reins from club basketball for the next month plus. The major tournament this cycle is FIBA Eurobasket 2025, the top European competition that is now held every four years.

The 2025 edition will be held across multiple countries: Latvia, Poland, Finland and Cyprus. The preliminary rosters have largely been whittled down to the final rosters, and the games will begin late this month (August) with the final being played on September 14.

The Hawks will be well represented in this edition, with four players taking part in the proceedings for their respective home countries. Let’s examine each of them:

Zaccharie Risacher — France
Risacher is coming off a strong rookie season in the NBA when he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. Now, Risacher gets his first chance to impress with the senior France team on the international stage.

He’s previously played for the U19 French national team — helping his side win silver at the FIBA World Cup in 2023 — but this will be a step up for him. This is a strong team, with tons of NBA talent like Guerschon Yabusele, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly joining him. However, Victor Wembanyama, recovering from a deep vein thrombosis scare, along with veterans Rudy Gobert and Nicolas, will give way to the new generation looking to take home gold.

Kristaps Porziņģis — Latvia
This competition will be a very interesting one to monitor for a key acquisition this offseason. Kristaps Porzingis struggled with injury issues the past two seasons in Boston, including a respiratory illness called post-viral syndrome that sapped his stamina in the most recent edition of the playoffs.

Porzingis has recently stated that he is now past those issues, saying in a recent interview with Sports Studija (a Latvian sports news outlet, translated):

I feel fantastic, to be honest. I took time to rest after the season. Something was lingering during the playoffs—I had fatigue, dizziness, even moments where I felt like I might faint. It wasn’t great.

In June, I fully rested and lowered the intensity. All of that has gone away. I haven’t felt any of the playoff symptoms anymore. I feel great and ready to join the national team. Super happy.

Latvia are longshots to win the tournament with just recent NBA players like Dāvis Bertāns and Rodions Kurucs the next biggest names on the roster. But this will act as a ramp up back to a high conditioning level for the Unicorn this offseason.

Vit Krejci — Czechia
Vit Krejci is the only current NBA player on the Czechia national basketball team roster for this competition, although fans may recognize league veteran Tomáš Satoranský and former number six overall pick Jan Veselý. This will be a nice showcase for the 25-year-old guard/wing to lead the international team forward as he enters a partially guaranteed season with the Hawks in 2025-26.

Eli John N’Diaye — Spain
We didn’t get to see a lot from N’Diaye at Las Vegas Summer League due to a wrist injury. But the two-way forward flashed some real athletic gifts in just one game, and his inclusion here indicates the wrist is or will be fully healed by the time the games are played.

Spain is a regular powerhouse in this competition, winning gold in four of the past six editions and bronze the other two times. Of course, the era of the Gasol brothers has come to a close, and Spain will be looking for other names to take the mantel of the proudest side in European international basketball.

N’Diaye (21) is, of course, much too young to be expected to do much this year, but this experience will go a long way towards adapting to high-level basketball on a big stage.

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