FRA - National pride not on verge of extinction

KAUNAS (EuroBasket) – As the EuroBasket draws to a close, players, coaches, fans and journalists are already beginning to sum up these past three weeks of basketball.

One thing the 2011 edition will be remembered for, is how many top players made themselves available to play for their countries.

No shows have been almost non-existent, even NBA players, who have not always shown such willingness to put on their national team jerseys.

Take France for example. This summer, injuries aside, Vincent Collet has been able to pick his strongest possibly squad, which includes five current NBA players have returned to Europe to play for France.

For France the impact has been huge, with the team making it to the EuroBasket final for the first time since 1949 and qualification to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade.
 
Of their NBA stars representing France, arguably none come bigger than Tony Parker and Joakim Noah who have both pointed at the Olympics as a driving factor behind them coming to Lithuania.

For 29-year old Parker playing for France is case of completing unfinished business, describing his emotions to journalists the day after his team’s semifinal win over France.
 
“I couldn’t sleep last night. It was just an unbelievable feeling. People don’t understand how important it was for me. I took it from my heart. I really wanted to win with the national team because I have won everything in the NBA and so going to the Olympics was the only thing missing and I am so happy now that my dream is going to come true and going to the Olympics to represent my country”,
 
The San Antonia Spurs point guard explained that it was not just his team benefiting from the presence of the NBA players but other teams right across Europe.
 
“This may be the best European championship ever. There were 24 teams and all the NBA stars came here because of the Olympics and it was just a very high level this year.”

For Joakim Noah, who has lived for most of his life in the USA and who could have played internationally for any one of four countries (France, USA, Cameroon and Sweden), playing for France is a matter of pride. He was eager to point out how special his international experience has been this summer.
 
“It’ just a great feeling you know. To be able to say we are going to be able to play in the Olympics and to be able to play on one of the biggest stages in the world. I feel very lucky and very privileged to say that. I feel like I am 26 years and I have already experienced so much as a young basketball player. But I’m not satisfied. I want more”, Chicago Bull starting center, Noah added.
 
Noah’s grandmother was the only white player on her basketball team back in Cameroon and it is from her that he believes his basketball genes come from.
 
Despite his almost confusingly multiple origins, there was never any question in his mind that he wanted to play basketball for France, a country his father Yannick represented at tennis.
 
“She is very proud [Noah’s grandmother] and it is great to have her. She has never seen me play or compete at this level and I know she is very proud of me playing with the French team.”
 
“I want to bring some basketball to Cameroon. Build courts and be a part of it but in terms of a national team I think that being able to play in these kinds of competitions like EuroBasket and being able to qualify for the Olympics is something that is beautiful.”
 
In the era of professional sport, international and Olympic basketball seem to be showing that national pride still counts for something amongst the game’s elite.

FIBA