{"id":510701,"date":"2026-08-19T11:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=510701"},"modified":"2026-08-19T12:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:21:07","slug":"evan-fournier-returns-to-france-national-team-i-want-to-enjoy-my-final-moments-with-this-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/evan-fournier-returns-to-france-national-team-i-want-to-enjoy-my-final-moments-with-this-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"Evan Fournier returns to France national team: \u201cI want to enjoy my final moments with this jersey\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

After being France\u2019s leading scorer in five consecutive major tournaments across the EuroBasket, World Cup and Olympic Games, Evan Fournier is back with the national team after two years away. The 33-year-old, coming off an EuroLeague title with Olympiacos and a Final Four MVP award, explained to the French Basketball Federation<\/a> why he decided to continue his international career.<\/p>\n

After the Paris Olympics, did you consider ending your international career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought about it. It crossed my mind. But I still love the game, so the thought process was rather quick. Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t join the French national team last summer because my ankle was hurting. So when you miss a competition, and for me it was the first time, you start asking yourself: what do I do?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You have won six medals with France. Did the pursuit of a gold medal motivate you to continue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very difficult for me to say no last summer. Let\u2019s not kid ourselves. A European Championship gives you a greater chance of winning a gold medal than a World Cup or the Olympic Games. It was a form of giving up because I don\u2019t know if I will ever play another EuroBasket. Of course, I want to win. But I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m chasing gold as much as I was five or six years ago. I want to enjoy my final moments with this jersey. And help this young group.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Does seeing a talented new generation arrive make you want to share these moments with them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s actually the opposite. You think, damn, I\u2019m old! (he bursts out laughing) All my guys are gone. It\u2019s just the two oldest of us with Rudy Gobert. But there has always been turnover with the French national team, that\u2019s normal. And both of us have a role to play. When we arrived with the national team, with Thomas Heurtel, Joffrey Lauvergne and Rudy Gobert, the older players like Boris Diaw, Mike G\u00e9labale and Florent Pietrus were very important in our development. They helped us understand what the French national team meant and how it worked. Now it\u2019s our turn to do the same. That doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t work to win games, but we have a greater responsibility than we did before.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

At 33, is it easy to adapt to a different role, to be someone else?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(interrupting) \u201cI\u2019m not going to be someone else. I\u2019ll remain myself. There\u2019s no point in forcing things. Simply, in such a young group there is inevitably an element of discovery and the unknown. That\u2019s where I think we can step in. I\u2019m not going to start talking all the time. I\u2019ll speak up when I feel something needs to be said. And it needs to be important. I\u2019ve always been quite vocal at certain moments. And on the court, I\u2019ll be myself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Thirteen years after your debut, does it feel like time has flown by?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have moments like that. Yesterday I was looking around and thinking that I had barely experienced anything with this group. The coaching staff has also changed a lot, not just the players. Obviously, there are a few familiar faces. It\u2019s a lot to take in. But it\u2019s refreshing at the same time. Not relying on what you\u2019ve already achieved is interesting. I\u2019m eager to keep moving forward and play the first games.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019re coming off an exceptional season, highlighted by the EuroLeague title and your Final Four MVP award. Did that reinforce your belief that you still have a lot to offer France?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed that you have to perform to come to the French national team. I\u2019m not a fan of getting a free pass. Just because I\u2019ve been here for more than ten years doesn\u2019t mean I have to be on the team. No. You have to earn your place here. And I take that seriously. I don\u2019t want to be part of the team just because I get along well with someone.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2026 is a year without a major competition. Are you already looking toward Qatar 2027 and Los Angeles 2028?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not looking that far ahead at all. Especially the Olympics. It annoys me when people talk about the Olympics. First, you have to qualify, and that\u2019s not easy. The most important thing is what\u2019s happening now, what we\u2019re doing right now. There\u2019s no point talking about next year. We don\u2019t know who will be there or whether there will be injuries. Let\u2019s focus on what we have to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After two years away, the EuroLeague champion with Olympiacos is back with Les Bleus. Fournier spoke to the French Basketball Federation about his future with the national team, his new role within a young group and his motivation to continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":488420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199,235,369],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-510701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-france","category-national-teams"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/Evan-Fournier-.jpg","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510701"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=510701"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=510701"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=510701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}