Between Cap d'Agde and Paris, the fast-paced life of Jacques Monclar, emblematic figure of French basketball

Jacques Monclar on the set of the show NBA Extra, of which he is the consultant. Federico Pestellini/Panoramic – Federico Pestellini

A figure in French basketball, consultant on beIN Sports, he leads a discreet life on the resort, which he knows like the back of his hand, his family stronghold being located in Montagnac. Three weeks in Paris to follow NBA news, one in Agde… the former international basketball player has found his balance. Portrait.

How good it is sometimes to go unnoticed. Not that Jacques Monclar is a huge star, but still: appearing daily or almost on television, on a pay channel such as beIN sports, of which he has been the appointed consultant for the NBA since 2012, gives you a little notoriety. "It’s true that in Paris, it happens that someone stops me in the street to take a selfie"  tall Jacques (1.93 m under the height chart), who goes under the radar in Agde, where basketball culture is close to sea level.

Exclusive beIN Sports consultant since 2012

At 66 years old, the man who was one of the best French players of his generation and a successful coach (read elsewhere), clearly doesn't have a minute to himself. Between the live broadcast of the NBA Extra, from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and the comments on American championship matches, when it's not a question of going to the United States two or three times a year, the Parisian life of the former playmaker is always punctuated by the bounces of the orange ball.

"In Boulogne, I live right next to the studios, so it’s convenient. I am very happy with the trust the channel has placed in me, NBA Extra is the only show that has been on the air since the launch of beIN Sports in France." After more or less long stints on TF1, Eurosport, Pathé Sport, L’Équipe TV, Europe 1 then Canal +, it was with a heavy heart that he left the Moscato Show crew, on RMC, in 2016, but beIN wanted to secure its exclusive services.

Cap d'Agde rather than Antibes

With three weeks spent in the capital for just one in Agde, his visits to our city, where he owns a villa, are sparse. But it’s a renewed happiness each time. "I know everyone, I pay attention to the city's work. I am often associated with Antibes (where he played and then coached from 1988 to 1996, Editor's note), but it's here that I feel good, it's less “bling-bling& ;rdquo; than the Côte d’Azur."

The memory of his father Robert, a basketball figure

Above all, family memories rise to the surface in which his father Robert, also an immense basketball player – 142 selections for the French team, two national titles with the Racing-club de France in 1953 and 1954, three Olympic Games contested (1952, 1956 and 1960) –, born in Servian, died in 2012 in Montagnac and buried in the family vault in Aumes is never far away. "It’s my grandfather, a tax inspector, who was appointed to the region at the end of his career," explains Jacques. "My father first played basketball in Privas, Carcassonne, Toulouse, where he met my mother, then Paris, where I was born. But every summer, I was here. I knew Cape Town without the slightest construction. I know it meter by meter! "

Thierry Vidal, childhood friend

Before national training courses take up his summers, Jacques Monclar meets a strange number in Montagnac, the same age as him: Thierry Vidal. "We often played boules together, then we found ourselves in Cape Town in the early 70s, when his dad opened L’Agathé Tyché, of which my father was one of “ citizens” ! "

A friendship rekindled since he returned more often to Agde where, from the "Comptoir des Perles" at "Bistrot de la Madragde", "Voilis" at "Can Pablo", he happily shares a coffee or a small glass of rosé at aperitif time, far from the Parisian hustle and bustle and the stat sheets. rsquo;of the NBA. And if retirement is not yet for tomorrow, Jacques Monclar does not deprive himself of having a good time on the shores of the Mediterranean. Incognito and happy to be.

More than 200 selections for the French team

Jacques Monclar is the father of three boys, two of whom are in basketball: Julien, general manager of Blois, Benjamin, player of Antibes and Clément, born from his union with Laurence Lebeau, half- finalist at the Moscow Olympics, in 100 m hurdles.

As a player, he has two French championship titles (with Asvel and Limoges), a European title with Limoges in 1988 and 201 selections for the Blues, with participation in the Games in 1984. He also coached Antibes, with two national titles, Pau-Orthez, Limoges, Paris Basket and Dijon.

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