French Teen Phenom Matches Doncic's EuroLeague Debut Feat

Maccabi Tel Aviv began their 2026/2027 EuroLeague season with a painful 84-74 loss to ASVEL Villeurbanne in Lyon, France. The Israeli team fell to a 1-0 record in the league following the defeat.

Villeurbanne's victory was significantly boosted by the exceptional debut of 19-year-old French guard Mac-Owen Podzu Dede. In his first EuroLeague game, Podzu Dede scored 14 points and dished out 5 assists, becoming the first teenager to achieve such statistics in a EuroLeague debut since Luka Doncic in 2018. He is the third player overall in history to do so, following Ricky Rubio in 2010, and the first Frenchman ever to record these numbers in his debut.

Podzu Dede, the youngest player on Villeurbanne's roster, was described as having "stolen the show" in the debut of coach Tony Parker. This marks Podzu Dede's first season with Villeurbanne after developing in the Nancy U21 program, where he also made his senior team debut in the 2024/2025 season.

He was a key player for the French U19 team at the World Championship last summer, leading them in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game, despite the team finishing tenth. Podzu Dede will aim to continue his strong start to the season with the Lyon-based club.