If the NBA still awarded a “Comeback Player Of The Year” trophy, there is no doubt that Nicolas Batum would have made a fine winner. Transparent for two years, and downright cut off by the Hornets, the Frenchman gave himself a second youth to the Clippers, to the point of becoming an essential element by his intelligence and versatility.
“If, in November, someone had told me that I would still play basketball at the end of June and that I would participate in an important competition, that I would play, that I would be on the field and that I would play, I would not have it. not believed ” admits the Frenchman during the end-of-season press briefing. “I was in a bad spot mentally a few months ago and look where I am now, it’s amazing. It’s amazing what happened to me this year. I can’t thank the Clippers enough for giving me a chance to be a basketball player again. I wasn’t really sure what I could do this year, and they gave me a chance to be a player again. It’s a godsend for me. “
“These injuries allowed us to move forward because we have played like that all year round”
“Glue guy” of the team, Nicolas Batum was also Tyronn Lue’s firefighter. Faithful to the post, every evening, he walked to almost all the posts to compensate for absences or to trap opponents.
“Given the group we had this year, we had to find a way to stay together and it was kind of my job, too, to make sure everything was connected. For example, at times I played post five, at other times I was a forward, at other times I had to do this or that. So I had to make sure that by doing that the rest of the band was ready to play, and I think we did a good job. Of course, we narrowly failed, and we wanted to play one more series… But you know, we can be proud of what we did this year ”.
Obviously, there are some regrets with regard to the scenario with holders (Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka, Ivica Zubac…) in less for the last two matches of the series against the Suns…
“Of course, if there hadn’t been any injuries, maybe things would have been different, but you never know, and then… it’s the same with the Lakers or Brooklyn or now Milwaukee. Maybe the story would have been different, maybe. We don’t know, and we’ll never know. Maybe the story would have been different. We missed Kawhi, we missed Serge, we missed Zu, three key players. Maybe we could have done it anyway. But like I’ve said throughout the year we’ve had injuries, and I think that helped us. These injuries kept us going because we’ve been playing like that all year, and we weren’t surprised when it happened. “
“Maybe people were wrong about me, and maybe I was wrong about myself”
Personally, he is therefore a “free agent” with a very high rating. Many title contenders dream of having such a veteran in their squad, but for now, Nicolas Batum is relishing this comeback.
“It was a special year for me. Like I said earlier, I never imagined it would end like this. It was a special year and to be honest I still can’t believe it. What I mean, sort of is, when you start listening to all the noises from the outside, you think to yourself that maybe it’s over for you. And when you come back and you play this well and the team play for something, I was a little surprised to tell myself that maybe I wasn’t that bad. I was a little surprised, and maybe people were wrong about me, and maybe I was wrong about myself. “
| Nicolas batum | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2008-09 | FOR | 79 | 18 | 44.6 | 36.9 | 80.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| 2009-10 | FOR | 37 | 25 | 51.9 | 40.9 | 84.3 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 10.1 |
| 2010-11 | FOR | 80 | 32 | 45.5 | 34.5 | 84.1 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 12.4 |
| 2011-12 | FOR | 59 | 30 | 45.1 | 39.1 | 83.6 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 13.9 |
| 2012-13 | FOR | 73 | 38 | 42.3 | 37.2 | 84.8 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 14.3 |
| 2013-14 | FOR | 82 | 36 | 46.5 | 36.1 | 80.3 | 1.4 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 13.1 |
| 2014-15 | FOR | 71 | 34 | 40.0 | 32.4 | 85.7 | 0.9 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 9.4 |
| 2015-16 | NO | 70 | 35 | 42.6 | 34.8 | 84.9 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 14.9 |
| 2016-17 | NO | 77 | 34 | 40.3 | 33.3 | 85.6 | 0.6 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 15.1 |
| 2017-18 | NO | 64 | 31 | 41.5 | 33.6 | 83.1 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 11.6 |
| 2018-19 | NO | 75 | 31 | 45.0 | 38.9 | 86.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 9.3 |
| 2019-20 | NO | 22 | 23 | 34.6 | 28.6 | 90.0 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 3.6 |
| 2020-21 | LAC | 67 | 27 | 46.4 | 40.4 | 82.8 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 8.1 |
| Total | 856 | 31 | 43.6 | 36.0 | 84.1 | 1.0 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 11.3 | |
