ATLANTA — The depth and width of Atlanta basketball has been on display yet again. The ascension of former UGA and Holy Spirit Prep star Anthony Edwards to NBA superstar is one example. Wheeler High graduate Jaylen Brown being named NBA Finals MVP with the Boston Celtics is another. And, for good measure, two more players with roots in the metro area — Stephon Castle from Newton High and Isaiah Collier from Wheeler — were both taken in the first round of last week’s draft.

Professional basketball players from Atlanta are everywhere.

So no one ought to be surprised that the player that the Hawks took with the first overall pick — French wing player Zaccharie Risacher — played in the French league this past season with a teammate with a 404 phone number.

That would be Bryce Brown, who starred at Columbia High and Tucker High before going on to lead Auburn to its first-ever Final Four berth, in 2019. Now 26, he has since played in the G League and leagues in Turkey and Poland.

“That’s my guy,” Brown said of Risacher in a recent phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No one from Atlanta, not even Hawks general manager Landry Fields, has been with Risacher in a basketball setting more than Brown. The two were together on a near-daily basis — practicing, playing, traveling — from the end of last summer to the completion of JL Bourg’s season in late May. For Hawks fans wanting to learn more about the 19-year-old from Lyon, France, Brown is worth listening to.

“I would say he’s a ‘3-and-D’ specialist,” Brown said. “Like, he can guard every position, and then I would say he can knock down shots. I wouldn’t say, like, he’s a primary ballhandler on a team, but I feel like he has craftiness to his game at his size. To be 6-10, he can handle the rock, he can make some plays, but I think his primary skill set will be knocking down shots. And he’s athletic, too.”

It jibes with what the Hawks have touted about Risacher — his ability to play well on offense and defense, his defensive versatility, his basketball intelligence and shooting ability.

A question about Risacher before the draft was his athletic ability. One NBA scout called him “just an ok athlete” in a text to The AJC. Brown has heard the critique and begged to differ.

He said he saw Risacher make huge strides in his athleticism over their season together, calling it “a night-and-day difference.” He saw Risacher being able to put down dunks that he hadn’t been able to previously and combining his increased strength and leaping ability to become more effective on the fast break.

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