Expectations are at all times excessive for France in males’s basketball on the Olympics, and that’s notably the case this yr with the nation internet hosting the 2024 Paris Video games. Victor Wembanyama’s Olympic debut is the most important storyline for the French, however this group is so gifted even past the 20-year-old wunderkind. France took silver in males’s basketball on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and the majority of that group returns this yr (plus Wemby) for an additional medal run.
Rudy Gobert has been France’s key participant for practically a decade. Gobert remains to be on the high of his sport coming off his fourth NBA Defensive Participant of the Yr award this previous season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the place he captained the No. 1 protection within the league. Nicely, don’t inform Brazil’s Maozinha Pereira about all of the awards Gobert has to his title. The 23-year-old produced a superb Olympic second in opposition to France on Saturday with a vicious poster on Gobert. Gobert’s greatest haters across the NBA needed to like to see this:
Right here’s a fair higher angle:
Pereira signed a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies final season. That is already the spotlight of his profession.
For such an amazing defender, there are such a lot of viral examples of Gobert being on the unsuitable finish of an amazing spotlight through the years. Not being afraid of embarrassment is an underrated a part of being an elite defender: Gobert jumped to attempt to block the shot although he knew he won’t get it and thus find yourself being clowned once more on social media. It didn’t work out for him this time, however he has the appropriate mentality of at all times attempting to make the play. Typically even future Corridor of Fame inductees like Gobert get beat.
France beat Brazil to begin off the Olympics. Pereira will definitely always remember this second, even in defeat.
