Evan Fournier, still loyal to the French team, wants « to end with titles with Team France »
For the first time in his career, Evan Fournier (1.98 m, 32 years old) had to withdraw from an international competition. One year after the Paris Olympics, the Olympiacos guard, hindered 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 of course to participate in future campaigns, as his end-of-career goals are to « win EuroLeague and end with titles with Team France. »
Acknowledged frustration in front of 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 hard to watch that behind my screen for the first time. It was frustrating. Unfortunately, I had to take this summer off. I think we’re all disappointed with the result, unfortunately. »
Nationality:
For the Olympiakos player, this setback could however be educational for the new French generation. « I think it will serve this group 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 keeps a clear heading. « To be honest, I’m not projecting yet. 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 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 illustrates 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. « When our generation arrived in Team France, Thomas (Heurtel), Rudy (Gobert), me, 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 Les Bleus’ 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 the possible scenarios are so it naturally helps you get psychologically prepared. »
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 very good team, one of the best in the world. We’ve proven it many times. After that, a competition can be decided by very little. The line between winning and losing is very thin. »
And in his eyes, 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 faithful 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.
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