Dreams have never been scarce for Rudy Gobert. “When I was little, I imagined myself wearing the jersey of an NBA team, but also often that of the French team,” the player recounts. One by one, the native of Saint-Quentin (Aisne) checks off the goals he set for himself: NBA player, member of the French team, All-Star… “I had always dreamed of beating the United States, and we did it during the 2019 World Cup [in the quarterfinals], for the first time in the history of the French team,” he continues. Two years later, at the Tokyo Olympics, he and his teammates did it again, almost normalizing the feat of defeating the basketball nation. Despite this group stage success, France fell in the final to Team USA.
“I also dreamed of beating the Americans in the final. I saw myself as an Olympic champion,” Gobert enthuses, his eyes shining and hardly satisfied with the silver medal. “To do it at home is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
