Will we see Thomas Heurtel again in the French team? The 34-year-old leader, European champion in 2013, has not worn the blue jersey since the defeat in the Euro 2022 final, where he was still a major player under Vincent Collet. The same summer, he joined the Zenit Saint Petersburg club. And this just after signing a charter, at the initiative of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB), making any person unselectable if they signed up with a Russian or Belarusian club as long as the war in Ukraine lasts.
This situation could end for Heurtel if he leaves Russia. This Wednesday, L’Équipe informs that Asvel, where the leader had a brief stint in 2021, “inquired” with him about a possible return to France. Heurtel would have quickly rejected Villeurbanne’s advances. The salary that Asvel would offer would be significantly lower than that he receives at Zénith. In the columns of L’Équipe in March 2023, Heurtel assumed that his signing in Saint Petersburg was the best choice “financially but also in terms of game project”.
Asvel could insist, even if it means reaching the end of the season to enlist him before the Olympic Games… which could allow his selection for the big deadline (July 26-August 11). Heurtel’s absence from the 2023 World Cup last summer did not go unnoticed. France experienced a fiasco, exiting in the first round with shortcomings at the leader position.
Former player of Pau-Lacq-Orthez, Strasbourg, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, Heurtel has 97 caps with the French team and four medals, including silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Asvel, owned club by Tony Parker, is ranked 2nd in the French championship and languishes in 17th place in the Euroleague, where it hosts Maccabi Tel-Aviv this Wednesday (8:15 p.m.).
