The Frenchman moved to CSKA from Toronto in 2014 as a young player coming off the bench for the NBA teams. In five years De Colo turned into true European star, the real threat for any opponent, unstoppable scorer and leader. Nando reached numerous team and individual accolades. Especially impressive was his collection of 2016, when he won Euroleague MVP and Final Four MVP, Alphonso Ford Trophy and VTB League MVP (one of three for him). Besides, the guard had huge lead in number of times when he won the Weekly MVP – 15.
De Colo played 292 games for CSKA (186 starts), averaging 16.4 points (56.5% two-pointers, 44.7% three-pointers, 93.5% freethrows), 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals in 24.3 minutes.
Andrey Vatutin, PBC CSKA President:
Five years ago, when we’ve just started negotiations on Nando, I said that he can become the first Frenchman in CSKA history. This fact helped us to reach the agreement, and in the end Nando exceeded our expectations and became one of the best players in CSKA newest history. Unbelievably sad to realize that Nando De Colo era is over here, but we understand the player’s desire to continue his career in the other team. It was great five years with two EuroLeague titles won, Nando was the key player, the leader of those brilliant teams. We are proud that here he became a true European star. It was great to watch how Nando grew into CSKA veteran in means of his dedication to the club, attention to every detail, every aspect of our work. It was Nando who came to me a year ago with his ideas of improvement in the team and the club; those meeting, the talks we had appeared to be very important in creating championship atmosphere. He is a perfectionist in everything, true leader who proves it on the court and demands others to work hard. I am sure that Nando will play several more years on the highest level, I sincerely wish him good luck on the court and all the best to his family.
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
I talked to Nando in the morning, and he said that, in particular, the important reasons for him playing here were [President] Vatutin and me. I am glad that I had the chance to have Nando on the team since my first year with CSKA, to work with a great person and competitor. He was a good player, but he developed into an MVP-caliber player with us. We won 2 EuroLeague and 5 VTB League titles together. We wanted Nando to stay, but his decision is ongoing, we completely understand his reasons. I would like to thank Nando for all these years together.
Nando De Colo:
It was five years for me playing and living in Moscow, and the city has become our first family home. When Lola was born, it was the first city she actually went to. We became a real family here. As for me leaving, this is not like I wanted to part with CSKA. I just want to appear in a different place, to reach some other goals. I played five amazing seasons here, we won two EuroLeagues, we dominated in the VTB League, we showed everyone that CSKA is the best club on the continent. I was really proud to play for the club. I want to thank our coach, who gave me the opportunity to play for the team and was giving me more and more responsibilities day-by-day. Thank you to the President [Vatutin] for letting me play here. Thank you to the management, doctors, staff and fans. And more than anyone I would like to praise my teammates. All these years, we have had great players and persons here, the guys who were making me better each and every day, the best players in Europe who made me improve by competing against them. It was really important to be part of this amazing group, who were our big family. So as I say, we reached every goal here in CSKA, and I think about the chance to change something, to find another challenge, to fight on the big stage again.
