Nicolas Batum Rips Fans Who Racially Abused French Point Guard After Luka Doncic Incident

As Batum, who retired from international play in July, pointed out, this incident comes on the back of Dennis Schroder being subjected to racial abuse in Germany's 107-88 win over Lithuania on Saturday. It's a shame that this keeps happening in this day and age.

The abuse aimed at Francisco was caused by his making an uncontested layup after shaking hands with Doncic in the closing stages. That didn't go down too well with the Slovenian team, and you can check out the sequence below.

While one can be upset about Francisco's decision there, racial abuse in any form can never be an acceptable response. The French guard even apologized for scoring that basket after the game.

"I said I was sorry," Francisco said. "I actually went to shake hands and go to the layup like I said to Luka. The only thing that I really regret is just shaking hands — I should have told him, 'Nah, play defense,' because I was going for a tie.

"You know, we've got point differential, which is really important in EuroBasket, and that's why it just clicked in my head," Francisco added. "At the end of the day, I would never do that, but I take full responsibility for it, and I just gotta move forward."

Point differential does matter in EuroBasket, but this was just a lapse in judgment on Francisco's part. He recognizes that as well, and it's just a shame that this overshadowed what was a great performance.

Francisco had 32 points (9-15 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals on the night. He went toe-to-toe with Doncic, who had 39 points (8-20 FG), eight rebounds, nine assists, and two steals in the loss.

France now sits atop Group D after winning each of its first two games, and will take on Israel next. Slovenia, meanwhile, is fifth after losing its first two, and will be up against Belgium next.