Gobert: Now it's time for a gold medal with France

BERLIN (Germany) - The old adage in basketball goes: you have to lose big games before you win them. Rudy Gobert has tasted unsavory defeat enough on the international stage. The French big man is more than ready to finally celebrate sweet success at FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

"I think it's the best EuroBasket I have ever seen in terms of play, players and just teams' overall level." - Rudy Gobert

"I don't have a gold medal yet. So this would be my first," Gobert said in Germany, where he is anchoring France's defense and has them still alive for the country's first continental title since 2013. "It would be amazing. It's our goal."

The 7-footer has been very close to ascending to the top step of a podium many times - both at the youth and senior level.

 Gobert facing Johannes Voigtmann of Germany at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2012

Gobert and France finished third at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2011, losing to Italy in the Semi-Finals and then beating Russia for a medal. A summer later, Gobert and his French teammates managed to go one step higher and finished second at the FIBA U20 European Championship, falling to Lithuania in the Final.

The  big man who would later go on to be proclaimed NBA Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions graduated to the senior national team and more close calls came. France finished third at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 with a 22-year-old Gobert, who was also on the team that finished third at EuroBasket 2015.

Gobert and France once again took the third step on the podium at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 before finally climbing one spot at the 2021 Olympics with the silver medal.

"The Olympics was really an amazing experience. During the Rio Olympics we didn't get to play the way we wanted, and it was a little disappointing for us," Gobert looked back on exiting in the Quarter-Finals in Brazil in 2016.

"So last year everybody worked really hard to be able to be the best we could be. We came up short of the gold medal, but we still were able to bring home that silver which for the country was something that we will remember forever.

"And more important than that, I think the mindset and the chemistry and the spirit that we showed was a really positive thing for all the kids watching us and for all the French fans and even basketball fans watching us."

 
Still, Gobert is tired of always coming up short. He wants to be a champion.

"I just turned 30 so I think it's time," said Gobert, who celebrated his 30th on June 26.

"I feel confident but that doesn't mean I don't think it will be really hard. As we saw today (versus Turkey in the Round of 16) nothing is guaranteed in sports. But that's the beauty of it too," he said.

 
"I think it's the best EuroBasket I have ever seen in terms of play, players and just teams' overall level."

Gobert hopes that France's experience of going through the suffering of losing big games will finally be rewarded and France will reign over Europe again.

FIBA