Even Tony Parker doesn't have a better track record than Nicolas Batum in the French team. On Saturday evening, “Batman” went for a second Olympic silver medal, and she joins an already very rich stack with seven medals, including a gold at Euro 2013. In 14 years of career in the blue jersey, it is difficult to do better, and the captain of the Blues will have been in all the fights, or almost, and he will have experienced the very highs as well as the very lows.
“It's time to let go and not compete too much. A big generation is coming” he recalls to the microphone of Eurosport. “It was my last, so finishing in this place, this situation, this match, this team, in this competition, it's special. It's hard to describe in the heat of the moment, but I'm happy, a little sad at the same time, it's still 15 years of sacrificed summers but crazy moments that I was able to experience, memories, highs, lows… Playing for France was an honour, it was extraordinary. To finish, even with a defeat in this match, I couldn't have dreamed of a better end to my career with the French team.”
The meaning of sacrifice
Like Nando De Colo and probably Vincent Collet, Batum leaves the stage in an Olympic final. There is nothing higher for a basketball player, even if gold still eludes them. “I lived 20 years with Vincent and it was an honor and a privilege. I was very lucky to work with the best French coach during all these years”, Batum emphasizes177 selections in Blue.
In this competition, Batum was true to himself, the group's true “glue guy”, on and off the field. In 2021, he made the “counter of the century” to send the Blues to the final. This time, no legendary action, but he was the one who yelled in the locker room after this generally failed first phase. And he was also the one who sacrificed himself in defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander then Dennis Schroder. As a symbol, he finished this Olympic final with a bloody face. Not enough to take away his smile when he put on this superb silver medal.
“As I told the guys, we had to enjoy the moment of the medal ceremony, it's important to savour it. I've been in the French team since 2008. I've clearly sacrificed all my summers to represent French basketball, to give my all and I'm proud of it. I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. It's always been important in my career to be part of the French team and I couldn't have imagined it without it. Now, it's time to enjoy my family a little more and for today, enjoy the medal.”
After tomorrow, it will be time to think about the NBA with a return to the Clippers for a new challenge, in a new arena, in Inglewood.
