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Rudy Gobert on skipping 2025 EuroBasket: I'm focusing on myself, my family and my son
After appearing in major international competitions for fourth straight summers, France star center Rudy Gobert won’t be joining his national team in the 2025 EuroBasket. Gobert talked about the reasons behind his absence to L’Aisne Nouvelle and explained why he’s skipping the tournament. “I’ve had busy summers in recent years, and it’s taken a toll,” Gobert said. “People don’t always realize how intense the EuroBasket is. It finishes just before the NBA resumes, and it’s a big responsibility. I had said I’d wait until the end of the season to decide, and now I have. This summer, I’m focusing on myself, my family and my son.”
It’s also somewhat of a full-circle moment for Wade, who ran into Powell in France during a sports marketing event in mid-June. “We got a chance to just rap on the street real quick, just a little vibe,” Wade said on “The Time Out with Dwyane Wade.” “Then I think I was golfing and I come back and I got a text on my phone and he’s just like, ‘Yo, big bro, I’m on my way. I’m going down to Miami. I can’t wait to put a jersey on.’ And I’m like, ‘Who is this?’” It was Powell reaching out to alert Wade about the news.
Former French head coach Vincent Collet “happy” Joel Embiid chose to play for Team USA
Former French national team head coach Vincent Collet admitted he was pleased that NBA superstar Joel Embiid chose to represent Team USA instead of joining France for the 2024 Paris Olympics. "I was happy Embiid didn't come last year," Collet told BasketNews at the B8 Summit in Vilnius last week. "I think we don't need that," he added, referring to the naturalization of players on national teams.
In a follow-up conversation with BasketNews, Collet expanded on his stance. He revealed that he was powerless to oppose France's pursuit of naturalizing Embiid, especially with the decision coming from high-ranking officials. "I couldn't really do that because it was coming from even higher—like the Minister," Collet explained. "It was something big. The Olympic Games were in France, and they thought it was, for us, insurance to be better. But for me, it wasn't that clear," he said.
In a follow-up conversation with BasketNews, Collet expanded on his stance. He revealed that he was powerless to oppose France's pursuit of naturalizing Embiid, especially with the decision coming from high-ranking officials. "I couldn't really do that because it was coming from even higher—like the Minister," Collet explained. "It was something big. The Olympic Games were in France, and they thought it was, for us, insurance to be better. But for me, it wasn't that clear," he said.
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Michael Porter on trade to Nets: 'It's been a whirlwind'
“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Porter, who found out he’d been traded from the only team he’d ever known while flying to Saint-Tropez, France. He reacted as expected. “I flipped the script in my head pretty quick. Honestly, I’m not like a super anxious guy. So on the plane when I found out, I was just like, ‘Well, I’m traded,’ and took a nap afterwards. [But] I’m excited to be here, though. I love Denver, I love my time there, but I’m excited for this new chapter.”
France will be without Mathias Lessort at EuroBasket 2025. The Panathinaikos big man has withdrawn from the tournament, the French Basketball Federation confirmed on Friday. To replace him, head coach Frédéric Fauthoux has called up Yoan Makoundou, who will join the 18-man training camp roster ahead of final squad selections.
Despite averaging just 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds as a senior, Reid was selected by the Oklahoma Thunder in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft. He would go on to play nearly a decade of professional basketball internationally, in countries such as France, Canada, Puerto Rico and Japan.
Guerschon Yabusele on Sixers offer: It was really, really low to be honest
“Leaving Philly was not a major key,” the French player said in an interview with SKWEEK TV, a streaming platform focused on European basketball. “I was thinking to myself ‘Oh my god, I could go back,’” Yabusele continued. “I didn’t really have any issues over there like I want to leave, no. I was like, ‘OK, if they want to re-sign me and then they give me something good, I will come back, for sure. And if they want me to leave, then I will leave.’ “I didn’t have any hard feelings or hard time. But they almost didn’t make really like an offer. They did, but it was really, really low to be really transparent. So it was I felt like, ‘Oh my god, you guys, it seems like you don’t really want me to stay, kind of.’ So it was a situation.”
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Sam Presti: We have people from Canada, Serbia, the West Coast, the East Coast, middle America, France, Australia, that all come together for a collective goal. There's compassion on the team. There's a cowboy toughness, a self-reliance that comes from being homegrown, and an essential sense of goodness. If that sounds familiar, that's because those are the same things that have been in Oklahoma for generations. I think the thing to recognize is that the team is really just a reflection of the state. I think the team itself resonates with the people here because it really is them looking at what makes living here special and unique.
France could be without another key player at this summer’s EuroBasket. After Rudy Gobert’s confirmed absence, and reported of Victor Wembanyama, Evan Fournier is now also doubtful due to continued issues with his right ankle, according to L’Equipe.
The San Antonio Spurs are strengthening their ties to Victor Wembanyama’s homeland, announcing a new agreement Tuesday to have the French digital asset security firm Ledger be its new jersey sponsor. Ledger is based in Paris, where the Spurs played two games last season. The Spurs have long had an enormous following in France, with players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw playing for San Antonio before the team drafted Wembanyama in 2023. “This moment cements a decades-long history of international collaboration and growth by the Spurs organization, as the game of basketball has grown to touch every culture and continent,” said RC Buford, the CEO of Spurs Sports & Entertainment. It is a multi-year deal, but specific terms were not announced.
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