Nando De Colo: A Legendary EuroLeague Career Coming to an End
Nando De Colo has always known how to control a game’s tempo. Now he’s setting the clock on his own career.
The Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul veteran has confirmed that the 2025–26 campaign will be his final season as a professional, drawing a finish line under one of the most complete and decorated careers European basketball has ever seen.
“I didn't say I would retire if we won the EuroLeague. But to be transparent, this will be my last season,” De Colo told BeBasket, explaining that the decision has been quietly forming in his mind. “Since the beginning of the season, I've had it in the back of my mind that this was going to be my last season.”
No drama. No farewell tour slogans. Just the trademark clarity of a guard who has spent 13 EuroLeague seasons making the right read.
A giant of the EuroLeague
De Colo’s résumé reads like a history book of modern European basketball.
- Two-time EuroLeague champion.
- 2016 EuroLeague MVP.
- Final Four MVP.
- Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner.
- A perennial All-EuroLeague selection who, at his peak, dominated the competition with a blend of efficiency, poise, and ruthlessness rarely seen in a guard.
The numbers back up the reputation.
He is the EuroLeague’s all-time leader in free-throw accuracy at a staggering 93.5%. Nobody has a higher career Performance Index Rating, his total standing at 5,835. No one has made more free throws than his 1,272. Only one player has scored more points than his 5,157.
Those aren’t just records. They are fingerprints on an era.
CSKA years: sustained excellence
If one chapter defines De Colo’s club legacy, it is his spell at CSKA.
Across five seasons in Moscow, CSKA reached the Final Four every single year. De Colo collected All-EuroLeague honors in each campaign, including three First Team selections, and became the face of a powerhouse that expected to play for titles every spring.
The 2015–16 season remains his masterpiece. He didn’t just win the EuroLeague MVP. He also claimed the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy and then rose again on the biggest stage, earning Final Four MVP as CSKA lifted the trophy. A second EuroLeague crown followed in 2019, cementing his status among the competition’s greats.
Fenerbahce, ASVEL and a late return
Before his recent return, De Colo had already built a strong bond with Fenerbahce, starring in Istanbul between 2019 and 2022. His calm presence, shot-making, and decision-making fit seamlessly into a club that has lived at the sharp end of European basketball for the last decade.
He then moved to ASVEL, where across two seasons he continued to showcase the same traits that defined his prime: efficiency, leadership, and an ability to squeeze value out of every possession.
In early January, he came back to Fenerbahce for a second stint. Not as the explosive centerpiece of a project this time, but as a veteran voice and a still-dangerous guard who knows every angle of this competition. It is from Istanbul, once again, that he will close his EuroLeague story.
A leader for France
De Colo’s impact stretches well beyond club basketball.
With the French national team, he has been a constant presence across more than a decade of major tournaments. He helped France to EuroBasket gold in 2013 and has collected six medals at major international events, including two Olympic silver medals.
On a roster filled with stars, he rarely needed the spotlight. He simply gave France what he has always given his teams: control, scoring when required, and a reliable hand in tense moments.
The final act
Four clubs. Thirteen EuroLeague seasons. Titles in EuroLeague and EuroCup, medals with France, and a statistical legacy that will sit atop leaderboards for years.
De Colo has chosen his exit on his own terms, with one more full season still to play after this one. One more chance at another deep EuroLeague run. One more chance to add a final flourish to a career already packed with them.
He has spent years deciding games in the closing minutes. Now the countdown is his own.
