By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Limassol, Cyprus– Imagine a 19-year-old receiving the first phone call that could define his life. His career. On one side of the line, Sergio Scariolo. On the other hand, Mario Saint-Supéry.
The coach who linked his name to almost every great success of Spain did not think long when he lost the “unofficial” MVP of EuroBasket 2022, Lorenzo Brown.
He called Gonzaga’s Saint-Supéry in his place to take charge of Spain!
And in the first three games, he seems to have embraced his role. A Little Prince, among (award-winning but former?) kings of Europe, who won the previous tournament.
The reference to “The Little Prince”, the hero of the French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is not accidental.
As the Spanish guard himself admits to Eurohoops, his family is related to the iconic author. “There’s nothing 100% real but my family says that my great grandparent is related to him,” Saint-Supéry said. “That’s the connection.”
And while this time around, his Eurobasket debut doesn’t seem like a fairytale, and it may not have a happy end, it’s the start of a much longer and more interesting journey.
“Always with a basketball”
“I come from a small, small town in Spain, Rincón de la Victoria, it’s in Malaga. It’s a wonderful town, but my whole life, my parents raised me with a basketball. And that’s why I’ve come this far,” the Spanish guard told Eurohoops, who in a few hours will face former EuroLeague Final Four MVP Kostas Sloukas, in a do-or-die game.
As for the fairy tale, he’s living in EuroBasket 2025? “It’s funny, but I’m living my dream, I’m living my story, and that’s what I have to continue doing,” he said.
Photo credit: FIBA