Germany, Japan and the winner of the Latvian TQO. The draw for the 2024 Olympic Games delivered its verdict on Tuesday. The Blues are served. A group within the reach of the French team, as Vincent Collet indicated, “overall satisfied” after the draw. Rudy Gobert already sees further. “It’s good for us to know the identity of our opponents, even if we still have to wait for the result of the Latvian TQO. But in the end, we know that we will have to beat good teams in order to achieve our goal. It’s good to know but it doesn’t really change our approach, our mentality about this tournament,” underlines the Minnesota Timberwolves pivot, currently hampered by a rib injury. He has missed the last three matches. “I hope to get back as soon as possible, it’s just a matter of pain. It’s reassuring,” he slips to Le Figaro, he who is promised the title of best defender in the NBA. No worries about the end of the season, let alone the Olympics.
An event that the Picardy giant is obviously already thinking about, even if the T-Wolves are (very) ambitious. “We will be lucky to have a unique team. Victor is already unique in himself, but his association with me, our executives, Nico (Batum), Evan (Fournier), Nando (Fournier)… It’s exciting. Even if we are all focused on our respective seasons, obviously, it is in the back of our minds,” admits Gobert, international 100 times since his debut in 2014. The men’s basketball tournament will take place from July 27 to August 10, at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq then at the Accor Arena in Paris.