The verdict has therefore fallen today: the French team announced in a press release its decision to deprive itself of the services of Marine Johannes for EuroBasket 2023.
“Marine Johannes, who ended her season with LDLC ASVEL Féminin, confirmed to the staff of Les Bleues her intention to go to her New York Liberty franchise. The date of his return to France only allows him to take part in the preparation from June 7, a week before the start of the Euro. Given this late arrival, incompatible with the issues previously mentioned, the staff of the French women’s team has decided not to keep Marine Johannes in the group..
It is a problem of calendars which has taken on an unexpected dimension. The WNBA season thus kicked off last week. However, some basketball players also play abroad, in championships that are not yet over or that ended shortly after the start of the WNBA season. This is the case of the French Marine Johannès and Gabby Williams, who both play at ASVEL, in the French championship.
After winning the title of champion of France last weekend, the players now want to join the North American league. But now, the women’s EuroBasket, which will take place from June 15 to 25, 2023 in Slovenia and Israel, begins very soon.
A highly criticized ultimatum
A very important meeting for the Bleues, who have been chasing a title since 2009, the Bleues having chained five consecutive silver medals in the European championship, and therefore five defeats in the final. An important meeting also for the preparation of the 2024 Olympic Games at home.
The staff of the French women’s team is therefore firmly opposed to the idea of letting players under WNBA contract join the United States before returning to participate in EuroBasket by integrating the group in the final stretch. For the management of the Blue, the deadlines are too short within the framework of the preparation.
What anger French basketball, Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum having sharply criticized this ultimatum. Céline Dumerc, now GM of the France team, confirmed the difficulty of this choice.
“Marine is determined to play in the WNBA with her New York team. Which means, we can not blame him for wanting to do that. Now, we can’t do everything. You have to make choices and you have to take responsibility for the choices you make. Doing everything is not possible”.
Gabby Williams was somewhat in the same situation, but the player was injured at the end of the season and should be out for several weeks. She will therefore be just like Marine Johannès absent from the next Euro.
In addition, and this is even more worrying, L’Equipe ensures that the FFBB’s ultimatum is not limited to European competition and that any player absent from Euro 2023, without reason deemed valid by the federation, would become ineligible for the 2024 Paris Olympics…
