Evan Fournier is a solid and reliable player in the NBA today, so much so that he was among the league’s most coveted free agents before choosing the New York Knicks. It wasn’t always so easy for the Frenchman in terms of popularity.
When it arrived in Denver, “More Champagne” was even condemned by an influential member of the local press before it could even prove itself. The day after his Draft in the 1st round in 2012 (in 20th position), Fournier was thus the subject of an article, to say the least, bloody written by Mark Kiszla, the journalist for the Denver Post, the reference media in the region.
Rather than giving the 19-year-old a chance to show what he was capable of, Kiszla had delivered a rant with the hints of anti-Europeanism titled “The Nuggets draft an international disaster”, in VF “The Nuggets are drafting an international disaster”.
Here are some small extracts.
“When Denver recruited Evan Fournier in 20th position, it was a slap in the face of made in America basketball. It was clearly not Kenneth Faried, who made GM Masai Ujiri look like a genius last year.”
“Here’s everything you need to know about Evan Fournier. He’s a shooting guard who can’t shoot.”
“The Nuggets did two work-outs with John Jenkins of Vanderbilt. He must really suck if Denver finally picked Fournier.”
“I only have one question for Fournier. Where is the library? Because it is very unlikely that he will spend any minute in the field …”
Evan Fournier talks about why he picked the Knicks
It is not insulting Evan to say that he did not have the expected success in Denver, the fault of poor playing time and a logical lack of experience at the highest level. Arrived in Orlando in a context more conducive to its emergence and with a few more years on the clock, the Charentonnais proved to Kiszla that he would have done better to be silent.
He was also reminded of this nauseating article on a kid that he had in the end never really seen in action … To which he had replied:
“France still hates me. Let me tell you this: French food is the best in the world. French basketball on the other hand? Not really. Does that help my case? Maybe not.”
As with each perf of@EvanFourmizz, remember this article by @markkiszla “Nuggets draft an international disaster”. https://t.co/xMkWF8sRHr
— Shaï Mamou (@ShaiMamou) November 4, 2015
France still hates me. Let me say: French food best in world. French hoops? Not so much. Does that help? Maybe not. https://t.co/IWk31pkCSc — Mark Kiszla (@markkiszla) November 4, 2015
@markkiszla I just blame you for judging him back then without having actually seen him play, that’s all. I’m glad if you changed your mind
— Shaï Mamou (@ShaiMamou) November 4, 2015
A few years ago, a reporter from Chicago lost a bet with Joakim noah and had to actually eat the newspaper in which he had written that “Jooks” would never be an NBA player. We would pay to see Mark Kiszla nibble at the keys of his keyboard given what Evan Fournier has achieved on the international scene and what he is accomplishing in the NBA.
Evan Fournier wants to defeat the number 13 curse at the Knicks
