Evan Fournier, still loyal to Team France, wants « to end with titles with the national team »

For the first time in his career, Evan Fournier (1.98m, 32 years old) had to withdraw from an international competition. One year after the Paris Olympics, the Olympiacos guard, hampered by a right ankle injury, watched EuroBasket 2025 from his couch. A frustrating experience for one of Team France’s pillars over the last 10 years, who is determined to come back strong. In an interview with TV Monaco, he discussed his frustration, and while not giving guarantees about his presence for upcoming events, his desire is clearly to participate in future campaigns, as his end-of-career goals are to « win EuroLeague and end with titles with Team France. »

Acknowledged frustration watching from the screen

Forced to follow his teammates from home, Evan Fournier didn’t hide his disappointment after France’s early elimination against Georgia. « It was obviously tough to watch it behind my screen for the first time. It was frustrating. I unfortunately had to take this summer off. I think we’re all disappointed with the result, unfortunately. »

For the Olympiacos player, this setback could however be educational for the new French generation. « I think it will serve this group well because they were very young. It was really the first FIBA competition for some, and they will learn from it and it will help us moving forward. »

A planned step-by-step return

While not fully projecting himself into the next major competitions yet, Fournier maintains a clear direction. « I’m not planning ahead yet to be honest. I want to continue, but it’s in two years. First there are the windows coming up. »

The guard, aware of the particular schedule for EuroLeague players, specifies the way forward: « I think we (EuroLeague and NBA players) will only be called up for the July and September windows, not during the season (in November). So we’ll start with that, try to qualify, we’ll take it step by step. » A pragmatic approach, reflecting his experience, which also shows his desire to continue the French team adventure.

The weight of experience and transmission

Discussing last summer, Evan Fournier makes a clear assessment of the importance of international competition experience. « This summer, there was such a big gap (in the group) compared to last summer. It’s very complicated. There are so many new players. It can be a strength too. But in tournament management, in understanding how knockout games work, you need experience. »

Ce shoot monstrueux d’@EvanFourmizz face au Canada. 🤯

Il y a un an, l’équipe de @FRABasketball battait le Canada et se hissait en demi-finale au terme d’un match d’exception avec une Arena Bercy en fusion. 🔥

Qui y était ? 🤩#Paris2024 I #JeuxOlympiques pic.twitter.com/fQLJhiNQY5

— Jeux Olympiques (@jeuxolympiques) August 6, 2025

The former Knicks player recalls how he and his teammates were guided by their seniors when they started. « Our generation, when we arrived in the national team, Thomas (Heurtel), Rudy (Gobert), myself, we were mentored. There was Boris (Diaw), Mike (Gelabale), Flo (Pietrus). There were the veterans. It’s important to have different age ranges in a team, for transmission, for experience. »

For Fournier, this relay between generations is essential to Team France’s success: « I know when you’re young you don’t want to hear about experience. But there’s a truth: just having experienced many scenarios, you’ve experienced more defeats, more victories, you know what scenarios are possible so naturally it helps you adjust psychologically. »

The optimism of an ever-ambitious leader

Despite Team France’s recent setbacks, Evan Fournier maintains complete confidence in the group’s potential. « We have a great team, one of the best in the world. We’ve proven it multiple times. After that, a competition can be decided by very little. The line between winning and losing is very thin. »

And in his view, the next generation is already on its way. « We have many players who will improve. I’m not worried at all about Team France, » says the one who plans to settle in Paris once his career is over.

At almost 33, the guard remains true to his ambition, determined to further enrich a record that only asks to be completed with titles in blue, after winning the first title of his professional club career last June with the Greek championship.