A few hours before the start of the grand final between France and Spain, we thought it would be good to remember some unforgettable moments of the Franco-Hispanic rivalry. Among them, a unique moment, marked in all our heads, a parenthesis far from being glorious but at the very least jubilant in the eyes of some. Yes, we are talking about Nicolas Batum’s right hook in Juan Carlos Navarro’s maracas at the 2012 Olympic Games.
London, August 8, 2012. We are in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games. Facing the Blues of a Tony Parker with big glasses, the Roja of the Gasol brothers, Sergio Llull, Jose Calderon and company. The France-Spain rivalry is not yet the one we know today, but it is built from competition to competition and our Frenchies remember only too well the RKO that Rudy Fernandez struck at TP the previous summer, during the (lost) EuroBasket final. One of the highlights of this rivalry occurs precisely during this Olympic meeting. We are in the last seconds of the match, Spain leads by six points and only has to finish the game on the free throw line to validate its ticket to the semi-finals. It was then that Nicolas Batum put on his Batman costume – certainly not the best – to send his right fist into the family jewels of Spanish full-back Juan Carlos Navarro, who zigzagged on the floor. Nico, seized by a feeling of injustice and inevitably touched by the frustration of a cruel defeat, then realizes the secret dream of many fans who support tricolor basketball.
Several factors can explain this freak out made in Nico: defeat of course, synonymous with the end of the Olympic adventure. The fact also that our Blues had the game in hand until the 35th minute before cracking. The fact that it is still Spain, a year after the EuroBasket, which takes on the role of executioner of the French. But perhaps more than anything, the Blazers winger is frustrated with the Spaniards’ attitude. Frustrated for their tendency to overdo it to get whistles. Frustrated by their very accommodating defeat against Brazil in the group stage, which coincidentally allowed La Roja to avoid the great Team USA before the final stage.
“And losing a match on purpose is in the Olympic spirit, isn’t it? […] I wanted to give him a good reason to flop. […] That’s why it’s so frustrating. When I saw their match against Brazil, I said to myself: okay, this time we’re going to hit them. »
– Nico Batum on his gesture
Fortunately, Nicolas is a reasonable man, and he knows how to recognize when he crosses the line. For its image and its conscience, and for the example, Batum makes its mea culpa on the networks in stride.
“I blame myself for the image I showed of myself, of our game and of France. I feel bad, because it’s not me. I’m human, I just lost my temper. I can not do that. We don’t want to see that on the field. If FIBA or the Olympic Committee wants to suspend me or give me a fine, that’s fine with me, I won’t say anything. »
– Nico Batum on the Blazers website
Sorry for showing such an image of basketball and France. Frustration and rage invaded me, I have no excuse.
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) August 8, 2012
Fortunately, a year later, the Blues will obtain revenge since at the end of a legendary match punctuated by a memorable speech by the best French basketball player in history, the French team will dismiss the Spaniards in the semi-finals of the EuroBasket 2013. To go on to win gold.
Before the start of the EuroBasket 2022 final, all the images of the years of battles between the Blues and La Roja are popping up in our heads, the good times and the bad. File this one in whatever column you want but no matter what, this action will be on the minds of thousands of people who will be watching the game. Including the players, all ready to take the European throne against their greatest enemy.
