Evan Fournier despises his EuroBasket silver medal: 'I take it as an insult' / News - Basketnews.com

Evan Fournier isn't particularly fond of the silver medal he won with France in the recent EuroBasket. The Knicks guard explained the reasons for it in an interview.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Having lost the EuroBasket final to Spain (76-88),Evan Fournier and his teammates in France NT had a hard time coming to terms with second place and the silver medal. The French guard went as far as to walk up to the podium without wearing his medal, a gesture he shared with Rudy Gobert.

Evan Fournier

Position:SG, SFAge:29Height:201 cmWeight:93 kgBirth place:Saint-Maurice, FranceProfileNewsStatistics

Fournier was invited to the show En Aparte on Canal +, where he didn't mince words on how he felt about the EuroBasket's outcome for France.

"When you work so hard for that gold medal and you get the silver, or the bronze, I take it as an insult," the captain of the French team said.

"When I receive this medal, when I put it around my neck, it sends me straight back to failure. It's hard and I want to get rid of it," he added, before clarifying that his gesture "isn't a sign of disrespect at all."

The 29-year-old NBA veteran also explained why he chose not to wear his medal while on the podium. "Many people didn't understand," he uttered.

"You can see, on the podium, that we were all disgusted. It's as if you were rewarded for having lost, and they were telling you, "Well done, you lost!", he continued.

Last summer, Vincent Collet's men had lost to the United States (82-87) in the Olympic Games final in Tokyo.

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