“Bienvenido, Pablo” was the welcome greeting from the Bayern basketball players to their youngest addition on Monday morning. They had draped the message on a screen diagonally above the podium in the Audi Dome’s press room, which was full this time. There has hardly ever been such a rush in the season that Munich ended ten days ago in Ulm with a disappointing semi-final knockout in the playoffs. Your dazzling coach Andrea Trinchieri had announced his departure after three years in Munich on the evening of the defeat.
Appropriately for the occasion, managing director Marko Pesic and sports director Daniele Baiesi also took a seat – and provided the framework for the man who is to lead the Bayern basketball team back to the successful game that the Munich public is expecting. Pablo Laso, 55, was the last to come in for his own performance, dark blue shirt with white trim, black pants, gray beard. “Well, hello,” said the Spaniard, who switched to very passable English for the next three-quarters of an hour, hoping “to be able to conduct my next press conference in German.”
For Laso, who landed in Munich on Sunday evening, Bayern are new territory in Europe, he has never left his homeland in 20 years as a coach. And why should he? The father of three sons has stringed together successes that have become ever greater – and ultimately made him one of the most courted coaches in Europe. Laso, who is not even 1.80 meters tall, already enchanted the Spanish league during his active days as a point guard, and his best values for assists and steals are still unmatched. He was influential at Saski Baskonia before Real Madrid signed him and won the European Cup with him in 1997.
With Madrid, Laso then shaped an era as a coach between 2011 and 2022. He led the royals to a total of 22 titles, won the Euroleague in 2015 and 2018 and six championships and cups each in the Spanish league, which is considered the strongest in Europe. “Pablo is one of the most successful club coaches of the last decade, he will not only prepare for the next season with us, but also lay the foundation for the coming years,” said Munich’s managing director Pesic proudly.
However, the question is whether Laso actually has the strength again to fill out this foundation and get through the 90 games per season. Almost exactly a year ago, Laso suffered a heart attack during the play-offs with Real and later watched from the stands as his club became Spanish champions. His contract was not renewed for medical reasons. “I feel good, as you can see,” says Laso now, “it was good that I took my time. I watched football, went to my sons’ school graduation parties, had time for the family and have a few Things changed. I’m ready again now.”
“I’m ready again,” says Laso – almost exactly a year after his heart attack
Laso will receive a two-year contract until 2025. And after Trinchieri’s time, which included the corona epidemic, countless injury problems and three missed championships, as well as two cup wins and two Euroleague playoffs, he should give the Munich team more structure and team spirit convey. Bayern had recently shown inexplicable slumps more and more often in the Euroleague and also in the Bundesliga.
Laso emphasized that along this path he is not being a pure defender, like Trinchieri was, but trying to find a balance in the game, according to the staff available to him. Managing Director Pesic indicated that the team will change its face without naming specific names.
“We sold half of the Marienplatz and a quarter of the Allianz Arena so that he could sign,” sporting director Baiesi joked. A little exaggeration, of course. But also a sign of the path Bayern want to take with Laso.