Defeated Nic Batum is 'scared to go home' to France
Nic Batum is retiring from basketball after next summer. But he's embarrassed he's stopping so early this summer.
“I’ve never been ashamed with this jersey, but this is the first time I’m ashamed,” LA Clippers forward Nic Batum told reporters after the game. “I’m scared to go home because we let a lot of people down. A lot of people believed in us to do something special. We didn’t do it.”
Batum is the team captain of a France team that severely disappointed expectations in the FIBA World Cup. They lost their opening game to Canada by 30 points, even with Batum defying his age during one chase down block of Lu Dort.
Then Latvia eliminated them in a tense, 88-86 victory. Batum had 13 points, but also had two of France's whopping 20 turnovers. While France qualified for next year's Paris Olympics automatically as the host country, it's certainly not the statement they wanted to make going into their home tournament.
One pundit was not at all surprised that France exited early.
Gobert, Fournier and Batum have not had a great deal of playoff success in the NBA, with Batum's conference finals appearance with the Clippers representing the pinnacle of their success. France has generally done well in international play, however, winning silver at last year's EuroBasket and at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Batum is reportedly retiring from both international basketball and the NBA next summer, according to his wife. Which means that the next year is big for both of Batum’s teams who haven’t been able to win it all recently.
France will add stud big man Victor Wembanyama for the Olympics. Will Batum’s Clippers be able to make their own addition, like James Harden? If not, Batum might be scared to go back to the Intuit Dome next year.
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