According to Nicolas Batum, the system is no longer made to protect young French hopefuls across the Atlantic.
In an interview given to The team , Nicolas Batum tries to explain the difficulties of the French to integrate into the NBA. For the Los Angeles Clippers winger, young talent is moving abroad too soon.
«For foreigners, it has always been more complicated. But the real difference is that when we arrived in the United States, we had nothing left to prove in France, says the player who is entering his 15th season in the NBA. We had struggled to impose ourselves, gain credibility and respect, and we were ready for what awaited us.»
However, Nico Batum does not want to blame the players themselves, nor those around them. “They are not put in the best conditions. It’s not just their fault, the system is like that. We put them very high, too soon».
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Finally, the Frenchman who will turn 34 at the end of the year (December 14) wants to send a message to the new generation. “We are not like them. To try to become one is to take the wrong road. Today, young people watch too many highlights of young Americans, and end up reproducing the same training sessions, the same movements. At the risk of becoming copies, rather than originals.»
