Retired Argentinian point guard Pablo Prigioni has been hired as the head coach of Saski Baskonia in the Liga ACB and Euroleague. Prigioni’s career as a player lasted roughly 22 seasons, 17 of which were overseas and seven of those seasons were with Baskonia.
With Baskonia he was a two-time All-Euroleague second team selection in 2006 and 2007. Although he was a part of the golden generation of Argentinian basketball, he did not play on the 2004 Olympic gold medal team. He was on the 2008 team that earned a bronze medal.
Prigioni played about four seasons in the NBA. He was with the New York Knicks from 2012 to 2015 and had a brief spell with the Houston Rockets at the end of the 2015 season via trade. He played his last full season in the NBA in 2016 with the Los Angeles Clippers. He then failed to make the Houston Rockets roster in the 2016 pre-season.
After failing to make the Rockets, Prigioni returned to Baskonia in early December but only played for another month and then retired from basketball for good. In ten Euroleague seasons, he had career averages of 6.1ppg, 4.3apg, and 1.7spg. In four NBA seasons, he had career averages of 3.5ppg, 2.8apg, and 1spg.
SIGN UP | Pablo Prigioni named head coach of Baskonia with a two-years deal.
Welcome coach @PPrigioni9!! #WelcomePrigioni pic.twitter.com/oPA0jphlVr
— Saski Baskonia (@Baskonia) June 16, 2017
Although this is Prigioni’s first head coaching position, it is not his first venture into coaching. He was a coach for one of the NBA Draft Combine teams in Chicago this season. Prigioni was well regarded as a player with impeccable basketball IQ so it will be interesting to see if that translates to his ability as a coach.
