The ASVEL talent moved to the third division this season to push forward his development
Adam Atamna showed his sky-high potential at NextGen Ulm
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Adam Atamna played at his third Adidas NextGen EuroLeague tournament this past weekend and naturally, each of them have been different. One of the biggest differences for the event in Ulm is that the guard does not regularly play for U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Instead, he is playing against grown men as he decided to challenge himself this season.
Atamna was ASVEL’s leading force in Ulm, averaging 33.0 points for the French side which slumped to a 1-2 record in the group and ended up finishing fifth.
“I have way more responsibilities, and I learned a lot from my two first tournaments. This is my last tournament so I try to help everybody around me,” said Atamna, who collected 8.0 points and 3.2 rebounds at the 2022-23 Patras tournament.
Last season he picked up 9.5 points and 2.5 rebounds at the NextGen Dubai tournament. But those stats came in just two games and Atamna was limited because of a broken hand suffered about 3-4 days before the tournament in Dubai.
“It was very frustrating. I was really disappointed to be playing only at 50%,” Atamna said.
All of the ASVEL players from this NextGen tournament team play in the French U18 and/or U21 leagues. Atamna did that the last two seasons, tallying 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the U21 league last season. So, instead of returning to the two youth leagues, Atamna and ASVEL’s management agreed for him to play for CTC Lyon SO Basket Territoire in the French third division, NM1.
“I decided to go play in a pro championship, because I felt ready physically and technically. I wanted to confront adults every day of the year,” Atamna said of the NM1 league, which is also where the famed French academy and two-time NextGen continental champion U18 CFBB INSEP Paris plays its games.
“I work every day to get there and I give myself 100% for that. I don't put pressure on myself. I live in the present moment and I try to learn as much as possible,” said Atamna, who is contributing 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the third division.
Among his teammates at Lyon SO is Noah Manet, who played two seasons of the NextGen competition for ASVEL – in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There also is Junior Zero, who played the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons at second division ProB side Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket. One of Zero’s teammates was Karim Atamna, Adam’s father.
Karim Atamna played the game more than 20 years in France – more than 10 of those seasons in the second division – before retiring in 2021.
“I can remember a lot of things about his career,” Adam said. “I never missed one of his games. I remember his MVP title at the NM1 Final Four (in 2016). It’s maybe one of my favorite memories from his career,” Adam said of his father, who helped Aix-Maurienne earn promotion to the second league in 2016.
Karim Atamna is now working as an individual coach and is in Ulm with the ASVEL team.
“My relationship with my dad didn’t change since I became a pro. He just gives a lot of advice about the pro world. We’ve always talk a lot about basketball, nothing really changed,” Adam said.
There is a younger Atamna brother, the 2009-born Zaki Atamna, who in July signed with Olympique Lyonnais as a football player. Zaki already stands 6-foot-7 and plays as a goalkeeper.
“My little brother is playing football. He never wanted to play basketball, but he is really good at basketball. Honestly, he’s a better shooter than me without practicing. I think he could be a really good stretch four,” said Adam, who himself did two years of karate but always loved basketball.
Adam’s talent was not lost on the French youth national team coaches though as he played at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023. He helped his country take third place with 6.3 points to go with 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He said his biggest memory was scoring 21 points in the Round of 16 win over Montenegro.
Atamna suffered a major disappointment a summer later as he was not named to France’s team for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
“I was under shock a little bit. I couldn’t realize it the first week. But it was just another motivation. I took this time to work on my body, on my game, realize that I had to work harder for the moment,” he said.
Working harder, just like challenging himself against adults and not playing with his fellow youth players.