Before he entered the game in the middle of the first quarter on Wednesday in his hometown, Théo Maledon had not appeared in the French team jersey for almost two years. It was in the semi-finals of Eurobasket 2022, a brief appearance that did not contrast with the rest of his first international tournament with the A team (twenty-six minutes of play in total), which ended with a silver medal. Since then, not selected for the 2023 World Cup, the point guard has seen his status crumble in the NBA where he was cut by Charlotte last December, then by Phoenix in March, after a few insignificant appearances. Maledon ended his season in the relative anonymity of the G-League, in Sioux Falls.
Common sense would have dictated that he would not have expected anything for the Paris Games this summer. But when asked whether his confidence level remained intact, the Rouen native did not bat an eyelid at the start of the gathering at the INSEP two weeks ago: “It is high and I want to transmit it on the field,” he assured. “That must not change for me, no matter the circumstances.” After his season, he therefore took no vacation, stayed in the United States, in Phoenix, to work with his coaches, and returned to France on June 12 with only one thing in mind: “Prepare for the Olympic deadline.”
“Seize the opportunity when it presents itself”
On overloaded back lines where Frank Ntilikina and Andrew Albicy, with their natural appetite for defensive tasks, start with a head start, Maledon plays for his place against Nando De Colo, the oldest player with 198 selections, Nadir Hifi, the supercharged Paris Basket guard, Isaïa Cordinier, who started on Wednesday, and the Monaco exteriors Élie Okobo and Matthew Strazel. “It is on positions 1 and 2 that the selection will be made”, recalls Vincent Collet, who will leave with his full squad (16 players) to Cologne to face Germany on Saturday (4 p.m.), where the Blues will play with 14, and will reduce it to 12 by next Monday.
Impeccable on Wednesday against Turkey (8 points at 100% shooting, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 13 minutes), the leader showed a lot of application and skill, faithful to his initial plan: “Give myself in defense, make my open shots, be a good teammate”, says this retained player, who turned pro at Asvel at 17 but who is plateauing in his American dream. “The ups and downs are part of a basketball player’s life: the main thing is to stay the course, the behavior, the work, he insists. There is no career path better than the other. You just have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself.” The one that is coming is immense.
