It’s an hour before the Warriors vs. Knicks game at Chase Center. Evan Fournier comes out of the tunnel that leads him to the floor. For a good fifteen minutes, the captain of the France team religiously repeats his ranges with the help of an assistant coach. These are unfortunately the only minutes he will spend on the floor of the Warriors. For the third time in a row, he will remain in his tracksuit on the bench to encourage his teammates who will end up losing ten points in a game they finished 9 out of 34 from 3-pointers.
DNA of Sports went to meet him in the locker room to discuss his new situation, but also Victor Wembanyama, and his opinion on the comments of Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum on young French people in the NBA.
Evan, you went from starter to substitute after seven games, then six games later you’re out of rotation. Tonight is your third game without playing, how do you live and manage this new situation?
Listen, I’m living it… I’m not happy but what can I do? I can’t do much in real life (shrugs)… So I stay professional, I do what I have to do, and I try to be ready, and that’s it. We remain patient.
When you say you’re staying professional, how do you mentally find the right balance between being a good teammate, being a good veteran while keeping that desire to come back in the rotation at the expense of certain teammates?
When I say stay professional, it’s about doing what I have to do to stay prepared. Of course, you have to remain a good teammate, but it’s not because I’m told that for the moment I’m not in the rotation that I’m necessarily going to slack off, stop eating, go out… I try to stand ready. You see, tomorrow the others are going to be “off”. Me, I’m going to train, I’m going to do cardio, I’m going to do my bodybuilding. When I say professional, that’s it. Prepare myself in case the coach needs me.
“I just turned 30, I’m in my best years, I’m in great shape so… I have to play”
Let’s take a look back at the first seven games. There was the arrival of Jalen Brunson who must have the ball in his hands, you have RJ Barrett as second creator, and there is Julius Randle who must be served… Of course, your role changes, but you were at 39% 3-pointers in these seven games… Certainly there were other problems but were you surprised that the coach did not give more time to this new starting five?
My role had already changed from last year. I was much more in a shooter role than in previous years, which was not necessarily my game in the past. But I still managed to adapt well I think. Yes, it’s true that we didn’t have much time to be able to test this five major… Especially since we were at 3 wins, 4 losses, and as you say I was at 40%. In truth, I found that there was nothing alarming. After… it’s his choice, it’s the coach’s choice (he shrugs). In truth, I don’t have much to say… You should ask him. Afterwards when you look at the minutes of the first seven games, you still see that I was not playing much already. I was in the five but I didn’t play a lot… So, it’s true that it could suggest a future change. Afterwards, everything happened very quickly: in the seventh game, I left the fifth and then in the thirteenth game, I was out of the rotation… It’s true that… it happened super fast.
Are there discussions between you and the coach, or between your agents and the front office of the Knicks on this decision of the coach?
I don’t know… I don’t know. But from a personal point of view, it doesn’t interest me, at least not right away. Afterwards, if in a month, nothing changes, and it depends on what the team will do… But if in a month, nothing changes, I will start asking myself questions. For now, I’m trying to stay focused on what I have to do…. I just turned 30, I’m in my best years, I’m in great shape so… I have to play.
“To be transferred now means that I will not see my family for several months, that I will not see my new son…”
We imagine that it’s too early to talk about a transfer or a transfer request, but is it something that’s already on your mind?
As I tell you, I’m not thinking about it yet. I really advocate patience. In 82 games, there are a lot of things that can change. I hope that will not be the case (note: knock on wood), but there may be injuries, there may be a transfer. You never know what can happen. And to be completely transparent, I have my wife who is pregnant and due in February so having me transferred now means that I will not see my family for several months, that I will not see my new son. I’m at a stage in my career where that’s hard, and I don’t necessarily want to experience it… So it’s a complicated situation, also on the family level. So let’s be patient for now and we’ll see.
Let’s move on to another subject, with the discovery of Victor Wembanyama by the Americans. What impresses you more about him: his game or how he manages to handle all the hype at such a young age?
To me, that’s not necessarily his game…. Finally… Obviously his game is impressive, but personally, what strikes me the most about Victor is his behavior in relation to all that, how he positions himself… I don’t want to say that it’s a form of maturity but he is sure of himself. Sure of himself, sure of his strength. He knows where he wants to go. Really, the kid, he’s really square. And it’s really rare. He is very, very wise for his age. I’m really looking forward to rubbing shoulders with him in the France team, to see how he behaves, to discover the guy a little, and to see his debut in the NBA. Because as a Frenchman, you have to support him and hope he rocks everything! He is a very good hope for French basketball.
“We are on a slope, I find, in France which is quite worrying”
About young French people, Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum recently said that young French people should stay longer in France or in Europe before going to the NBA because they are not ready. What is your opinion on the matter?
They are of course right! For me, there is an even deeper problem than that, it’s the way we approach basketball in France at the moment among young people. It is also felt in the French youth teams, whether under 18, under 17… More and more, you have the impression that the French youth teams are a “showcase”, and there is less of this competitive side, the desire to win, the desire to share that there was before. I think there has been a change for a few years now and it shows.
How does this change materialize?
Guys do everything to get drafted, they only think about the NBA. In fact… you have the impression that basketball is less important (he stops)… than the love of basketball, the love of the ball and of this game. It became less important, so that the rhinestones and glitter of the NBA, it’s getting bigger, social networks, being known, etc. We are on a slope, I find, in France, which is quite worrying. And of course, since the kids are thinking more and more about that, they leave earlier and earlier, without having really proven themselves in France or in the professional world. It’s a big problem, frankly it’s a real big problem.
When we look at the careers of these young players, most of them still spend two or three years in France or in Europe if we take the example of Killian Hayes. You, you had a similar journey by doing a year in Nanterre, and two in Poitiers…
I had spent three years with the pros but you shouldn’t confuse… It’s not a question of duration. We all have different trajectories but what is needed is to be productive: you have to be productive! Because now the NBA has a different view of Europe. Before, the Europeans were drafted only if they performed well in their league. Now they are betting more and more, as for the Americans, on potential. So now the kids are getting picked higher and higher in the Draft, which wasn’t the case before, when they haven’t really proven themselves. For me, this is a mistake.
How is that an error?
Because when you arrive, you are unarmed! As you are drafted high, at the beginning you will play. Except that if you don’t perform well your first two years and you don’t show enough things, the third year, it’s gone, you become a substitute. The fourth year is the same. And from the moment you sign your second contract, your role will be the same as the previous year, and it won’t change. That is to say that we will sign you by saying to ourselves: ‘OK, he is an 8th man, a 10th man…’. Then, to go up in the hierarchy, hope to be a starter, and have a lot of playing time, it’s super complicated. That’s why you have to arrive by being efficient… I often take the example of Nico Batum. When Nico, just after the Hoop Summit, he hits everything and in all the mock drafts, he is expected to be fifth. Except that Nico, he knew. He warned, and he said that he was not ready, that he was coming out of a season with 6 or 7 points at Le Mans… He said that he had to continue his apprenticeship, and so on. In the end, he was drafted 27th when he could have made a top 5, except that the guy was much more armed! He was more ready, and we know the career that Nico had.
“Young people don’t realize what it takes to have a ten-year career in the NBA… It’s super hard. They don’t realize”
Yes, but at 18-19 years old at Le Mans with Vincent Collet, he had responsibilities… Today, in Betclic Elite, there are several Americans in front of a young talent, and he may not have the opportunity to to be responsible in the same way…
Of course, but Nico he had his responsibilities in his second year. In his first year as a pro, he was playing but he wasn’t a major player on the team. Whereas the following year when he returned, he was a dominant player, one of the most important in his team. For me, it’s inconceivable to get drafted and try to make your mark in the NBA when you’re not even a dominant player in your team in France. It’s just not possible! And if you ever can’t do it, it’s just that the NBA isn’t for you… that’s it. It’s just that the highest level isn’t for you and maybe you’ll get there later, when you’re 23-24, after making your mark in Europe… But right now, it’s not is frankly not a good idea because that’s how you beat yourself up. And after you spend four years not playing… And it’s hard, it’s even very hard not to play for so long.
Doesn’t the problem come from the fact that we compare this new generation to that of Tony Parker, to Nico Batum, to Boris Diaw, to Rudy Gobert and you… Does the success of the “old” didn’t give the illusion that it was easy to go and win in the NBA?
This completes what I said before… Which is to say that too often now, I see kids arriving who are not ready to burn. They are not ready. They are more drawn to what comes with the NBA rather than the basketball side. I will take my example… I slept in the hall, I lived in the hall. That was the only thing in my life that mattered. Basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball! To tell me, I have to break through with Denver, you burn, you burn. I no longer calculated my family. My parents complained because I never answered them but me in my mind, I was in survival mode. And I find that now they are too quiet. Frankly, I find them much too quiet. Not all of them, of course. There are some that are quite square, I admit, but overall they are much too quiet. They don’t realize what it takes to have a ten-year career in the NBA… It’s super hard. They don’t realize.
Interview in San Francisco.
