Knicks, Wembanyama, french NBAers … The big interview of Evan Fournier

We are one hour before the game between the Warriors and the Knicks at the Chase Center. Evan Fournier comes out of the tunnel that leads him on the floor. For about 15 minutes, the captain of the French team religiously rehearses his routines with the help of an assistant coach. These are unfortunately the only minutes he will spend on the floor of the Warriors. For the third time in a row, he will stay in his tracksuit on the bench to encourage his teammates who will end up losing by ten points in a game they finished 9 of 34 from 3-point range.

Basket USA went to meet him in the locker room to discuss his new situation, but also Victor Wembanyama, and his opinion on the comments of Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum on the young French in the NBA.

Evan, you went from starter to backup after seven games, then six games later you’re out of the rotation. Tonight is your third game without playing, how do you live and manage this new situation?

Look, I’m living it… I’m not happy but what can I do? I can’t do much really (shrugs)… So I stay professional, I do what I have to do, and I try to be ready, and that’s it. We stay patient.

When you say you’re staying professional, how do you mentally find the balance between being a good teammate, being a good veteran and still having that desire to get back in the rotation at the expense of some teammates?

When I say staying professional, it’s about doing what I have to do to stay ready. Of course, you have to be a good teammate, but just because I’m told I’m not in the rotation right now doesn’t mean I’m going to slack off, stop eating, go out… I try to be ready. You see, tomorrow the others are going to be “off”. I’m going to train, I’m going to do cardio, I’m going to do my weight training. When I say professional, that’s it. Prepare myself in case the coach needs me.

“I just turned 30, I’m in my prime years, I’m in great shape so…I need to play.”

Let’s look back at the first seven games. There was the arrival of Jalen Brunson who has to have the ball in his hands, you have RJ Barrett as a second creator, and there is Julius Randle who has to be served … Obviously, your role changes, but you were posting 39% from 3-point range in these seven games … Certainly there were other problems but were you surprised that the coach did not give more time to this new starting five?

My role had already changed last year. I was much more of a shooter than in previous years, which was not necessarily my game in the past. But I still managed to adapt well I think. Yes, it’s true that we didn’t have much time to test this major five… Especially since we were at 3 wins, 4 losses, and as you say I was at 40%. In fact, I thought there was nothing alarming. After… it’s his choice, it’s the coach’s choice (he shrugs). In fact, I don’t have much to say… You’d have to ask him. Afterwards, when you look at the minutes of the first seven games, you can see that I was already not playing much. I was in the five but I didn’t play much… So, it’s true that it could have suggested a future change. Afterwards, everything happened very quickly: in the seventh game, I was out of the five and then in the thirteenth game, I was out of the rotation… It’s true that… it happened very quickly.

Are there any discussions between you and the coach, or between your agents and the Knicks front office about this decision of the coach?

I don’t know… I don’t know. But from a personal point of view, I’m not interested, at least not right now. After that, if in a month, nothing changes, and it depends on what the team will do… But if in a month, nothing changes, I’ll start asking myself questions. Right now, I’m trying to stay focused on what I have to do…. I just turned 30, I’m in my best years, I’m in great shape so…I have to play.

“Getting transferred now means I won’t see my family for several months, I won’t see my new son…”

We imagine it’s too early to talk about transferring or applying for a transfer, but is it something that’s already on your mind?

Like I said, I’m not thinking about it yet. I really advocate patience. In 82 games, a lot of things can change. I hope it won’t be the case (editor’s note: he’s touching wood), but there could be injuries, there could be a transfer. You never know what can happen. And to be totally transparent, I have my wife who is pregnant and due in February, so transferring now means I won’t see my family for several months, I won’t see my new son. I’m at a stage in my career where that’s hard, and I don’t necessarily want to go through that… So it’s a complicated situation, also on the family level. So let’s be patient for now and we’ll see.

Let’s move on to another topic, with the discovery of Victor Wembanyama by the Americans. What impresses you the most about him: his game or the way he manages to handle all this hype at such a young age?

For me, it’s not necessarily his game…. Well… Of course his game is impressive, but personally, what impresses me the most about Victor is how he handles it all, how he positions himself… I don’t want to say it’s a form of maturity, but he’s sure of himself. Sure of himself, sure of his strengths. He knows where he wants to go. Really, the kid, he’s really square. And that’s really rare. He’s very, very wise for his age. I’m really looking forward to playing with him on the French team, to see how he behaves, to get to know him a little bit, and to see his NBA debut. Because as a Frenchman, you have to support him and hope he does well! It is a beautiful hope of French basketball.

“We are on a slope, I think, in France that is quite disturbing “.

About the French youth, Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum recently said that the young French should stay longer in France or in Europe before leaving for the NBA because they are not ready. What is your opinion on this issue?

Of course they are right! For me, there is an even deeper problem than that, it is the way we approach basketball in France at the moment among the young. It is also felt in the French youth teams, whether it is the under 18, the under 17… More and more, you have the impression that the French youth teams are a “showcase”, and there is less the competitive side, the desire to win, the desire to share that there was before. I think there has been a change for a few years now and you can feel it.

How does this change materialize?

Guys are doing everything to get drafted, they only think about the NBA. In fact… you feel like basketball is less important (he stops)… than the love of basketball, the love of the ball and the game. It’s become less important, while the glitter and glitz of the NBA, it’s getting more important, the social networks, the fact of being known, etc. We are on a slope, I think, in France, which is quite disturbing. And of course, since kids are thinking more and more about that, they leave earlier and earlier, without having really proven themselves in France or in the professional world. It’s a big problem, frankly it’s a real big problem.

When we look at the career of these young players, most of them spend two or three years in France or in Europe if we take the example of Killian Hayes. You, you had a similar career by doing one year in Nanterre, and two in Poitiers…

I did three years in the pros but you shouldn’t confuse… It’s not a question of length. We all have different trajectories but what you have to do is to be productive! Because now the NBA has a different look on Europe. Before, Europeans were drafted only if they were performing well in their league. Now, they bet more and more, as for the Americans, on the potential. So now, kids are getting picked higher and higher in the draft, which was not the case before, even though they haven’t really proven themselves. To me, that’s a mistake.

How is that a mistake?

Because when you come in, you’re not armed! As you are drafted high, at the beginning you will play. Except that if you don’t perform well the first two years and you don’t show enough, the third year, you become a substitute. The fourth year, it’s the same. And from the moment you sign your second contract, your role will be the same as the year before, and it will not change. That is to say that you will be signed saying to yourself: ‘OK, he is an 8th man, a 10th man…’. Then, to move up in the hierarchy, to hope to be a starter, and to have a lot of playing time, it’s super complicated. That’s why you have to be efficient… I often take the example of Nico Batum. When Nico, just after the Hoop Summit, he is all over the place and in all the mock drafts, he is expected to be fifth. Except that Nico, he knew. He warned, and he said he was not ready, he came out of a season with 6 or 7 points in Le Mans … He said he had to continue learning, etc.. In the end, he was drafted 27th when he could have been a top 5 player, except that the guy was much better armed! He was more ready, and we know the career that Nico had.

“Young people don’t realize what you have to go through to have a ten-year career in the NBA… It’s super hard. They don’t realize.”

Yes, but at 18-19 years old in Le Mans with Vincent Collet, he had responsibilities… Today, in Betclic Elite, there are several Americans in front of a young talent, and he may not have the opportunity to be empowered in the same way…

Sure, but Nico he had his responsibilities in his second year. In his first year as a pro, he was playing but he wasn’t a major player on the team. But the next year when he came back, he was a dominant player, one of the most important of his team. For me, it’s not conceivable to be drafted and try to make it in the NBA when you’re not even a dominant player on your team in France. It’s just not possible! And if you don’t make it, it’s just that the NBA is not for you… that’s all. It’s just that the highest level is not for you and maybe you’ll get there later, when you’re 23-24 years old, after you’ve made your mark in Europe… But right now, it’s frankly not a good idea because that’s how you break your neck. And then you spend four years not playing… And it’s hard, it’s very hard not to play for that long.

Doesn’t the problem come from the fact that we compare this new generation to Tony Parker’s, to Nico Batum, to Boris Diaw, to Rudy Gobert and to you… Hasn’t the success of the “old” ones given the illusion that it was easy to go and impose oneself in the NBA?

It completes what I said before … That is to say that too often, now, I see kids who arrive and are not ready to tank. They’re not ready. They’re more attracted to what comes with the NBA rather than the basketball side. I’ll use my example… I slept at the gym, I lived at the gym. It was the only thing in my life that mattered. Basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball! Telling me, I have to break through with Denver, you’re doing it, you’re doing it. I didn’t care about my family anymore. My parents complained because I never answered them, but in my mind, I was in survival mode. And I find that now they are too quiet. Frankly, I think they are too quiet. Not all of them, of course. There are some who are quite square, I admit, but overall they are much too quiet. They don’t realize what you have to go through to have a ten-year career in the NBA… It’s super hard. They don’t realize.

Interviewed in San Francisco.