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Knicks' Evan Fournier: France Must 'Learn' After World Cup Heartbreak

New York Knicks shooting guard Evan Fournier and the French men's national basketball team endured two brutal losses in the Jakarta portion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Geoff Magliocchetti

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France's men's national basketball team is saying "au revoir" to championship contention at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. 

The group, led by exiled New York Knicks sharpshooter Evan Fournier will come home from Jakarta empty-handed after a pair of heartbreaking losses in the infantile stages of the international competition. 

Despite Fournier's scoring contributions (his 48 total points in the first two games are third-best among all World Cup competitors behind only Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan Clarkson), France failed to muster victories in their first two games in Group H, eliminating Les Bleus from championship consideration. That includes an 88-86 defeat to World Cup virgins from Latvia on Sunday at Indonesia Arena despite a game-best 27 from Fournier. 

“We’ve got to go home,” Fournier, who began last season as the Knicks' starting shooting guard, said of the loss, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. “It’s very hard. Very tough. Not much to say. We didn’t think we would leave the tournament like this. We have to learn from it and come back next year. There isn’t anything else to do.”

The French first dropped a 30-point decision to Canada to open Group H play on Friday. Canada's shellacking of Lebanon earlier on Sunday set up a must-win situation against Latvia, whose NBA-free contingent is in the midst of its first-ever World Cup appearance. 

Though it was far from the blowout necessary to climb back into beneficial tiebreaker territory, France had a lead after each of the first three periods, including a 74-64 edge entering the final frame. Fournier provided the French an early advantage with 15 points over the first 10 minutes alone.

But Latvia, sans the services of injured former Knicks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis, took advantage of French facilitator Nando de Colo's ejection due to unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. In the final 6:46 after de Colo and his game-best eight assists were forced to leave, Latvia ended the game on a 22-11 run, taking its first lead on Rolands Šmits free throws with just over 37 seconds remaining. 

Fournier missed a would-be go-ahead jumper on the other end, allowing Latvia to get the ball back for one successful free throw to create the final margin. Sylvain Francisco missed a would-be winner as time expired, leading to France's first losing streak within World Cup preliminary play since 2010. 

Latvia now gets a chance to win Group H against Fournier's fellow Knick, RJ Barrett, and Canada on Tuesday (9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+). Fournier and the French, on the other hand, search for answers.

“I’m scared to go home because we let a lot of people down," Nicolas Batum of the Los Angeles Clippers said in Reynolds' report. ”The whole country, a lot of people in the country believed in us to do something special, and we didn’t do it.”

France's early exit is by far the biggest surprise of the 2023 World Cup's infantile stages. The French, which also stars Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert, placed third in each of the past two tournaments and also earned the silver medal at the most recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The next five-ring circus makes France's instant ousting all the more intriguing ... and painful. Paris is set to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and, as the home nation, Les Bleus are currently the only team guaranteed entry (seven more berths are up for grabs in the World Cup).

Fournier, 31, is expected to be a headliner of that group, which could feature several prominent new faces: newly-minted top overall pick Victor Wembanyama will undoubtedly be considered for inclusion as will reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid. 

In the meantime, Fournier's immediate future re-enters the spotlight: despite his removal from both the Knicks' starting lineup and nine-man rotation, no headway has been made on a trade for the outside specialist. As it stands, Fournier is due over $18.8 million on his current New York contract.

Despite their elimination from the championship conversation, France will continue to compete in the World Cup consolation ladders. They'll look to avoid a winless trio in pool play first, facing Lebanon on Tuesday (5:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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