Paris Basketball shooting guard Nadir Hifi has been chosen as the 2024-25 EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy winner. The 22-year-old becomes the first French player to secure the prize. Hifi managed to do so in his first season in the competition as he helped EuroLeague debutante Paris reach the postseason.Voted for by EuroLeague head coaches, the Rising Star Trophy recognizes the best player each season who was younger than 22 on July 1 of the previous summer. Hifi was eligible by just a few days, as he was born on July 16, 2002, two weeks before the deadline. Hifi was the runaway leader in this season's voting, followed by Matthew Stazel of AS Monaco, who was second. Melvin Ajinca of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne was third, Hugo Gonzalez of Real Madrid fourth, while Juan Nunez of FC Barcelona and Matteo Spagnolo of ALBA Berlin tied for fifth place.
Hifi quickly made sure he would be remembered for more than his haircut and run-and-gun playing style. In just his third EuroLeague game, Hifi scored 20 points against defending champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, leading Paris to an 84-80 victory. It was the first of seven times that Hifi reached the 20-point mark.
Hifi led all Rising Star eligible players this season in points (14.7 ppg.) and PIR (10.4). He was also the best per-minute scorer in the regular season. Hifi averaged 29.8 points per 40 minutes, edging of Carsen Edwards of FC Bayern Munich (28.6) and his Paris teammate TJ Shorts (27.6). Hifi was also first in three-pointers made per 40 minutes (5.0). He finished the regular season with averages of 14.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 3.0 fouls drawn per game. He was one of 41 players to take part in all 34 regular season games and one of only two players to come off the bench in all of those games.
Born in Strasbourg, France, Hifi started his career with local fourth-division team Illkirch-Graffenstaden before joining ESSM Le Portel Cote d'Opale, where he played for three seasons. He joined Paris in the summer of 2023 and helped the team win the French Leaders Cup and the BKT EuroCup titles last season. Hifi has also been a member of the French national team.
The first-ever Rising Star award went to Erazem Lorbek of Climamio Bologna in 2005. He was followed by Andrea Bargnani of Benetton Treviso in 2006; Rudy Fernandez of Joventut Badalona in 2007; Danilo Gallinari of EA7 Emporio Armani Milano in 2008; Novica Velickovic of Partizan Belgrade in 2009; Ricky Rubio of FC Barcelona in 2010; Nikola Mirotic of Real Madrid in 2011 and 2012; Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos Piraeus in 2013; Bogdan Bogdanovic of Partizan in 2014 and again with Fenerbahce Istanbul in 2015; Alex Abrines of Barca in 2016; Luka Doncic of Real Madrid in 2017 and 2018; Goga Bitadze of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in 2019; Usman Garuba of Real in 2021; Rokas Jokubaitis of Barcelona in 2022; Yam Madar of Partizan in 2023 and Gabriele Procida of ALBA Berlin in 2024.