He was supposed to lead FC Bayern Basketball into a new era of success – but Head Coach Pablo Laso’s tenure ends abruptly after just one year. The Munich club announced the surprising departure on Friday
The news came more or less out of nowhere: FCBB announced the departure of Pablo Laso on Friday morning. The Spaniard is leaving the club after just one year for family reasons, according to a statement from the German champions. The 56-year-old would actually have had a contract until the summer of 2025.
“Pablo’s personal decision was unexpected, but we respect him very much as a coach and personality and would like to thank him warmly for his work and his great commitment in the past successful season,” Managing Director Marko Pesic was quoted as saying in a statement.
Laso had only arrived in the Bavarian capital a year ago. The signing of the long-time successful Real Madrid coach (six championships, two Euroleague titles) was a coup for Munich, which also paid off in terms of titles. Under Laso, Bayern won the cup and two weeks ago also clinched their first championship title since 2019 in the final series against long-term rivals Alba Berlin. “We wish Pablo all the best for the future and he will always be associated with us, and not just because of winning the double,” Pesic emphasized.
There had recently been repeated mild criticism of Laso’s team’s style of play, including that Bayern’s play was too slow. Nevertheless, winning the double seemed to have laid the foundations for an era of success – especially as Bayern will be moving to the SAP Garden in part in the foreseeable future, thus catching up with the top teams in Europe in terms of infrastructure. But now the plans have to be overturned. It has not yet been decided who will succeed Laso. “FC Bayern Basketball will provide information on further personnel planning as soon as possible,” the club said.
