The announcement came from home
Nicolas Batum hung up his sneakers on Monday. 37 years old, 18 NBA seasons behind him, the decision made alone and announced in a video filmed with his son in Pont-l’Eveque, Normandy. “Dad is done playing basketball,” he says to the camera.
Batum had been without a contract since late June, when the Los Angeles Clippers declined their option for another season. No other team came calling.
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The block that saved France in Tokyo
His name is tied to one second, in the 2021 Olympic semifinal. Klemen Prepelic drives for Slovenia, France up by one. Batum comes from behind and swats the euro step away. France advances to the final.
“Someone has to make that defensive play, and it fell on me,” he told L’Equipe in December 2021. The former France captain, capped 177 times, retired from international duty after the 2024 Olympics.
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Eighteen years of doing a bit of everything
Portland, Charlotte, Philadelphia, the Clippers. Four franchises across eighteen seasons, starting in 2005 at Le Mans before crossing the Atlantic. Never an offensive focal point, always useful: guarding opposing wings at 6-foot-8, finding the extra pass, shooting 37 percent from three for his career.
Developed by Vincent Collet at Le Mans and with the national team, Batum lost his father at two and a half years old, to a brain aneurysm during a game. He chose to announce his retirement on September 21, the anniversary of that day.
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