FIBA (DR) / Licence Creative Commons
While the attention of the basketball planet is rather focused on the playoffs as every spring, the French team has made a resounding return to the front of the stage following the announcement of the possible or even probable arrival of Joel Embiid in the blue shirt. A situation that made Evan Fournier react, in the form of a little rant.
As of Monday evening, RMC Sport released the big news of the week: Joel Embiid would be about to be naturalized French and to join the tricolor team. A real bomb, which certainly divided the followers of the orange ball between those who are in favor of it and those who are opposed to it, but which above all turned all eyes on the Olympic Games of 2024, which will be disputed… in France, of course .
For several dozen hours, everyone has been dreaming of the ideal 5 that the French could present at the Olympics, perhaps forgetting a little quickly that 2024, casually, is far away. In any case, this is the opinion of Evan Fournier, who after having proposed a first reaction to the new Embiidreturned to the charge in a somewhat firmer way:
In the midst of rumors, Evan Fournier remains down to earth
Are you guys aware that there is a European championship this year and the world championships next year?
Stop talking to me about h24 games.— Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) May 3, 2022
It is clear that this reminder is anything but impertinent. Indeed, Vincent Collet’s men first have two international competitions to play, each as crucial as the other, and with real chances of a medal for the tricolors. Well aware of this fact, Fournier has decided to calm things down a bit… which is not surprising either when we refer to his past positions.
In 2018, when the first “Embiid en Bleu” rumors came out, the one who was then playing in Orlando had made it clear that he was not in favor of the arrival of Cameroon in the columns of the Parisian:
You have to stop saying nonsense. I’m not saying this against Joel, he’s a very good player. Of course he would do us good in the France team. But that’s not the debate. You’re not French, you’re not there, that’s all. If he played for Cameroon, it would be wonderful for his country. In terms of values, it would be much stronger for him to represent Cameroon than France. I think he miscalculated.
With the possibility about to become reality, has Fournier changed his mind? No one knows… yet.
Joel Embiid or not, Evan Fournier remains focused on the next installments of the French team and does not seem to taste the hysteria that has taken hold of the web in recent hours. One thing is certain: difficult to blame the experienced back of the Knicks for wishing to take things in order. It is surely the wisest.
