A poster for eternity.
By countering the shot of the Slovenian Klemen Prepelic less than two seconds from the end of the Olympic semi-final, and while the Habs were only leading by a small point, Nicolas Batum entered the Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, August 5. French.
Heroic, the captain of the Blues, nicknamed Batman, propelled the Blues to the final in Tokyo thanks to this decisive action.
Without this coup, the Slovenians led by their prodigy Luka Doncic would undoubtedly have won their ticket at the buzzer.
"I had to do an action like that. I knew I hadn't had a good game on offense (3 points to 1/5), but I had to do this action for my team, to take them to the final, and that's what I did ", soberly reacted Nicolas Batum after this victory of anthology.
It's Nico, it's beautiful.
#TeamFranceBasket #FRASLO # Tokyo2020 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/g9KMyZa3W2
- French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) August 5, 2021
"Someone in class"
Already author of three blocks against Italy, the player of the Los Angeles Clippers posed four against Slovenia, as much as the control tower Rudy Gobert. "Nico did his Batman stuff at the end of the game," summed up teammate Evan Fournier. The French coach Vincent Collet also did not fail to greet this gesture at the microphone of Eurosport: "The action of Nicolas Batum is fantastic and decides who is the loser and who is the winner".
Fairplay, the player also stood out at the final whistle by going to comfort his opponent Luka Doncic.
"He gave me a nice message. Nicolas is a classy person. He told me he hated playing against me, but in a positive sense. It was nice of him," said the star. Slovenian at a press conference.
Eternal respect, @ luka7doncic.
#TeamFranceBasket #FRASLO # Tokyo2020 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/s7UeZK85Wx
- French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) August 5, 2021
A father who left too early
Known by his peers and carried today in triumph, Nicolas Batum has nevertheless known his share of trials over the years. The sportsman hardly knew his father, Richard Batum, a Cameroonian sportsman from Eseka, near Yaoundé, in the center of the country. This father figure left too soon. Professional basketball player in Proville in Nord-Pas-de-Calais at the beginning of the 90s, he died of a heart attack in the middle of a game, when Nicolas was only two years old.
The son has since followed in his footsteps on the floors. Trained in Pont-l'Évêque, in Normandy, like the back of Bleues Marine Johannès, he quickly joined the Caen Basket Calvados club then the Le Mans training center. The titles are multiplying. Nicolas Batum was crowned European junior champion in 2004, European junior champion in 2006 with the French team, then French champion the same year with Le Mans. His talent attracts the attention of NBA recruiters.
In 2008, he signed up for the NBA draft, but during a medical visit to the Toronto Raptors, his dream was about to be compromised.
The franchise cardiologist detects a heart problem.
A second opinion finally declares him fit to play.
The young French champion was selected in 25th position by the Houston Rockets before being sent to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Critics in the NBA
During his first seasons, he made the heyday of the Oregon club, while taking stature in the France team.
He took part in his first Olympic Games in 2012 and became European champion in 2013. He also won two bronze medals at the Worlds in 2014 and in 2019. But in the NBA, his career stagnated and injuries were linked.
Thank you all for your support.
We have finally accomplished our task.
Thanks everyone!
European champion!!!!!!!!!
pic.twitter.com/HN8rFPgC3e
- Nicolas Batum (@ nicolas88batum) September 23, 2013
During his time at the Charlotte Hornets from 2015 to 2020, he was criticized for not being decisive enough and lacking aggressiveness in attack. He even becomes the bête noire of the supporters. "I've never been a guy who scored 25 points per game since I was pro," he recalled at the time to The Charlotte Observer. “When I was playing in France, people would say, 'He's never going to the NBA' because I wasn't averaging 20 points. But I was shooting at 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. I never really gave up. of importance to the opinion of people about me, outside of basketball ". "It doesn't mean that I think I'm a great player. I make a lot of mistakes on the pitch and I played bad games. Some of the criticism is justified, that's for sure," he added.
Tonight we'd be taking on the Cavs, so here is @ nicolas88batum's 2OT game-winner in 2012!
pic.twitter.com/tZfIZLL8Tq
- Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 7, 2020
The paid transfer to the Clippers
Nicolas Batum has since moved from North Carolina to California.
He joined the Los Angeles Clippers squad at the start of last season.
A saving transfer.
The Norman presented another face.
In his new jersey, the winger has relaunched his career, shooting at 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds on average and becoming one of the franchise's most important players, with a season ended at the gates of the NBA Finals.
The Clippers reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in their history, where they were beaten by the Phoenix Suns in six games.
"He plays on both sides of the field, he puts in important shots," said team star Kawhi Leonard in the LA Times.
"He defends very well, he makes passes. It's an important hold for us."
According to The Athletic, he should also extend his contract with the Clippers for two seasons.
Thx to all the #ClipperNation for the support.
Thx to the organization, the fans and my teammates for believing in me.
Thank you for welcoming me and my family as one of your own since day one.
Nothing can be taken for granted in life.
The journey continues, next stop: Tokyo!
pic.twitter.com/Z9CexahJrX
- Nicolas Batum (@ nicolas88batum) July 1, 2021
After this thunderous season, this versatile basketball player approached the Tokyo Olympics under the best auspices.
Once again called "Batman", the masked avenger that we had lost sight of for a few years, he will be one of the keys to the final on Saturday against the United States.
For the third time after 1948 and 2000, the Blues will try to finally climb on Olympus, after two failures suffered on the last step, each time against the Americans.
The Blues have a slight advantage.
They remain on two victories against the new generation Dream Team, in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup (89-79), then two weeks ago at the opening of the competition (83-76).
"We must not make this mistake that we made ten years ago," warned Nicolas Batum in reference to Euro-2011, when the Blues lost in their last match.
That year, "we beat Russia, we are happy and then we make a non-match against Spain in the final."
21 YEARS LATER, THE BLUES RETURN TO THE FINAL OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES.
THANK YOU GUYS 💙 # TeamFranceBasket #FRASLO # Tokyo2020 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/62RsXGJCP6
- French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) August 5, 2021
Batman knows the challenge is great when he faces off against Kevin Durant and the other American stars in the NBA.
But like his teammates, he wants to believe it: "They are going to be ready, they are putting a lot of big slaps to everyone at the moment. It's up to us to be ready, to fight, to fight, and we never know what than it can happen on a basketball game. "
With AFP
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