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Team France is expected to be one of the main rivals of Team USA in the battle for gold medal in the FIBA World Cup 2023.
The French have a roster full of experienced NBA and EuroLeague players and are one of the favorites to win the trophy and dethrone reigning champions Spain.
Team France certainly has its sights set on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where it will try its best to claim the gold medal in front of its home crowd.
Still, before Paris 2024 comes around, it would want to want claim the FIBA World Cup.
That said, we take a look at three NBA players who headline Team France's roster:
#3 - Nicolas Batum (LA Clippers)
A 15-year NBA veteran and one of France's most experienced players, Nicolas Batum returns to the team after skipping the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket to rest.
The LA Clippers forward has never won the gold medal in the FIBA World Cup and this may be his last chance to do so. He has won a total of six medals with the national team since 2011 and now aims for his second gold medal after the 2013 FIBA EuroBasket.
His off-ball play, 3-point shooting and defensive skills will be vital for Team France this summer.
#2 - Evan Fournier (New York Knicks)
Evan Fournier is Team France's No. 1 offensive weapon and the one who will take over in crunch time. He is coming off a struggling season with the New York Knicks and views the FIBA World Cup as his best chance to prove doubters wrong.
“I am impatient to play again, excited to come back to this team, the atmosphere, our headquarters in Pau, the practices, fighting for a goal,” he recently said to L’Equipe. “This season, for the first time, I had no goal and it felt strange.
“I want to live intense moments, feel like myself again. The French national team is important in my career. This FIBA World Cup will be my launchpad.”
Evan Fournier couldn’t lead France to the gold medal in the 2022 EuroBasket last September. Thus, he wants to turn things around and lead the national team to the title in the Philippines.
“Everybody said this was the strongest EuroBasket of all time but, I don’t know,” he said. “We lost the Final. I was disgusted, sickened. Nothing has changed. I’m disappointed.”
#1 - Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Rudy Gobert is looking forward to the FIBA World Cup 2023 and has his sights set on leading Team France to the top of the world.
The star big man of the Minnesota Timberwolves is expected to have a key role in the squad, especially defensively.
“I really like the state of mind we have at the start of the cycle,” Gobert said (via L’Equipe). “We are going to play a FIBA World Cup, where there are more games than in the Olympic Games. We want to continue to progress every day, including during the competition. The end goal is to win the gold medal, the one we haven’t yet managed to get.”
Rudy Gobert will play in his fourth straight major FIBA tournament with France and aims to win his first gold medal. He has won five medals with the senior men’s national team, including silver at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 last September.
Here is France’s 12-man roster for the FIBA World Cup 2023:
- Nicolas Batum
- Nando de Colo
- Moustapha Fall
- Evan Fournier
- Sylvain Francisco
- Rudy Gobert
- Mathias Lessort
- Frank Ntilikina
- Elie Okobo
- Yakuba Ouattara
- Terry Tarpey
- Guerschon Yabusele
During the FIBA World Cup 2023, France will play in Group H and face Canada, Latvia and Lebanon. If it advances to the Second Round, it will play teams from Group G, consisting of Iran, Spain, Brazil and Ivory Coast.
