Expectations are at all times excessive for France in males’s basketball on the Olympics, and that’s significantly the case this 12 months with the nation internet hosting the 2024 Paris Video games. Victor Wembanyama’s Olympic debut is the main storyline for the French, however this crew 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 crew returns this 12 months (plus Wemby) for an additional medal run.
Rudy Gobert has been France’s key participant for practically a decade. Gobert continues to be on the high of his sport coming off his fourth NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months award this previous season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the place he captained the No. 1 protection within the league. Effectively, don’t inform Brazil’s Maozinha Pereira about all of the awards Gobert has to his identify. The 23-year-old produced a superb Olympic second towards 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 an excellent 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 flawed 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 though 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 suitable mentality of at all times making an attempt to make the play. Generally even future Corridor of Fame inductees like Gobert get beat.
France beat Brazil to start out off the Olympics. Pereira will definitely always remember this second, even in defeat.