Nic Batum has announced his decision to skip the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket and not play for France in the competition (1-18 September).
Batum revealed his decision during an interview with First Team. The French forward wants to skip the tournament and focus on next season with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I think Nando and I are grandpas there. There, between the sequences of seasons, the Olympics last year. This year, I struggled physically and I know that there is a huge season ahead of me with the Clippers next year because we are going to play to get to the end.
This may be my only chance where I have the opportunity to be able to do that,” Nic Batum said in the interview.
"Ça va pas plaire, je le sais !" – @nicolas88batum à propos de sa décision de ne pas participer à l'Euro 🗣 pic.twitter.com/XMWZjFJg5q — First Team (@FirstTeam101) April 8, 2022
The veteran forward has played a total of 155 games for France, winning the gold medal in the 2013 EuroBasket, the bronze in the 2014 and 2019 Basketball World Cup and the silver in the 2020 Olympic Games.
Nic Batum will not be the only French player skipping the tournament. Nando De Colo will sit out the EuroBasket in order to rest.
France will take on Germany, Slovenia, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary in Group B, with games taking place in Cologne.
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