The French Basketball Team is looking to redeem themselves in the upcoming Paris Olympics after an underwhelming display at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, their quest for glory began on a concerning note after suffering consecutive losses to Germany, Serbia, Canada, and Australia in the final four exhibition games before the Summer Games. But French superstar Victor Wembanyama pacified anxious fans recently by reassuring them that the French team would be making a push for the Gold medal, even if it entails going up against the star-studded USA team.
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Ahead of the start of the 2024 Olympic Games, Wembanyama sat down for an interview with ESPN, where he was asked about his thoughts on potentially clashing against the LeBron James-led American Superteam. The 20-year-old didn’t seem to be star-struck when talking about his competitors.
Instead, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year simply claimed that he was looking forward to playing any of the top contenders to win the Gold medal.
“I’m excited to play against any good teams. But it is really about us, you know? We will try and make it as far as we can, to the gold medal. So, it doesn’t matter who is our opponents,” Wemby said.
Love Wemby’s confidence pic.twitter.com/Z1yko4GiOH
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The USA’s recent 1-point win against South Sudan showed that they may not be the invincible lock for the Gold Medal that people have been predicting them to be. So it’s safe to say most European contenders like France, Germany, and Spain, will not be intimidated by the stacked USA roster.
However, this isn’t the only time that Wembanyama has talked about France’s goal of winning the gold medal. During the concluding stage of the 2023-2024 season, the San Antonio Spurs center displayed a lot of confidence in his national squad while declaring that anything other than a gold medal in the Summer Games would be a “failure”.
“If I am at the Olympics, if I have the chance to go to the Olympics, and we don’t win gold, it will be a failure, I’ll think we could’ve done better. I think our goals are within reach if we play without regrets,” Wembanyama had said.
However, France doesn’t look like a gold medal team yet, going 2-4 in the preparatory games. But Wembanyama’s performance in these exhibition games has been exceptional. In the five contests that the prodigy has set foot on the floor, he has undoubtedly been France’s best player – recording a staggering 18.4 points, 8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.
