Key keywords: Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks, 2024 NBA Draft, sophomore season benchings, NBA player development, French NBA forward, Hawks wing rotation, NBA court belonging Sixth overall 2024 NBA Draft pick Zaccharie Risacher opened up in a recent exclusive interview with The Athletic about his frustrating early-season benching stretch during his sophomore campaign with the Atlanta Hawks, doubling down on his unshakable confidence that he has earned a permanent spot on an NBA floor. After a promising rookie season where he averaged 7.2 points and 2.3 rebounds across sporadic minutes, Risacher entered the 2025-26 season with high expectations from the Hawks front office, who drafted the 6’9” French forward as a core piece of their long-term rebuild. However, inconsistent defensive reads and slow adjustment to the team’s new motion offense in preseason led head coach Quin Snyder to relegate Risacher to the end of the bench for 14 consecutive regular season games between late October and mid-November, with the young prospect seeing fewer than 8 minutes of action in 11 of those outings. Risacher admitted in the interview that the benching initially left him disheartened, as it marked the first time in his competitive career he was left out of a team’s core rotation. “I grew up playing major minutes every game from my time in the French youth leagues all the way through my LNB Pro A seasons,” he shared. “Getting benched that long made me question if I had what it takes at first, but I never let that doubt stick around for too long.” Instead of requesting a trade or distancing himself from the coaching staff, Risacher added 90 minutes of extra daily training to his routine throughout the benching stretch, including 30 minutes of one-on-one defensive drill work with assistant coach Mike Brey and 300 additional three-point shots after every team practice. The effort paid off when an injury to starting forward Jalen Johnson opened up a rotation spot in late November, and Risacher has thrived in the 8 games since, averaging 13.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 44% from three-point range and holding opposing top-tier wings to 36% shooting when he is the primary defender. “I belong on an NBA court,” Risacher stated firmly when asked about his recent breakout. “This stretch isn’t a fluke. I put in the work to fix the gaps in my game, and I’m here to stay. I want to be a foundational piece for this Hawks franchise for the next decade, and I’m going to keep proving I deserve that spot every single night.”