French NBA stars speak about the horrific terrorist attack in Paris (Video)

The French flag projected onto the Eiffel tower

Many words can be used to describe the recent massacre at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris – deplorable, dastardly, heinous, harrowing. The last adjective will be the most enduring, and not just for the denizens of the City of Light. The NBA can count many international players amongst its ranks, and not a few of them are French.

Tony Parker, Rudy Gobert, Boris Diaw, Evan Fournier, Joakim Noah, Alexis Ajinca, Nicolas Batum, Kevin Seraphin and many others were probably in anguish over the barbarity that their country endured.

Two of them, Alexis Ajinca(New Orleans Pelicans) and Kevin Seraphin (New York Knicks), stood solemn as the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” was played before they faced each other at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

7’2” Pelicans Center Ajinca, who hails from St.Etienne in France but stays in Paris during the off-season, had this to say:”I was happy when I heard it, but not really. It was sad in a way. They played La Marseillaise because there was a lot of death. It was not a joyous moment. So this was a different feeling than I usually get when I hear it”, according to Forbes.

Hear what he had to say in this video:

Another player with French ties, Kevin Seraphin, chose something more prominent as he had his hair fashioned to spell “Paris”. Seraphin relocated from French Guiana to Paris as a teenager to play professional basketball and owns a home there.

Charlotte Hornets’ Nicolas Batum, who was born in Lisieux, France, had this to say about the attacks:

Edited by Staff Editor