Victor Wenbanyama is one of the 19 pre-registered athletes to represent France at the 2024 Olympics.
• Download the NBA app
Paris (AP) — France national team head coach Vincent Colette on Thursday announced an expanded list of 19 players for the reserve roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, led by Victor Wembaneyama.
I just won with Kia. New face awardthe 7ft 3in Wembaneyama will join key players such as Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier in boosting France's medal ambitions.
France has two of the NBA's best defensemen in Gobert and Wembane Yama.Gobert wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the fourth time in his careerdefeated Wenbanyama by a narrow margin.
Coach Collette said at a press conference, “The key to building a team is establishing an uncompromising defense.'' We have an excellent profile in this field. ”
The roster, which will be reduced to 12 players for the tournament, includes rookies Bilal Koulibaly, Ousmane Dieng and Killian Hayes, who also played in the NBA this season.
Remarkably, this list includes five point guards, including Thomas, who has played the position regularly for France over the past decade but is excluded due to his affiliation with a Russian club. It makes up for Yurtel's absence.
The French team won a silver medal in Tokyowill face some strong opponents including Turkey, Germany, Serbia, Canada and Australia in pre-tournament warm-up matches.
At the Olympics, France will be in Group B with Germany, Japan and the winners of the upcoming qualifying tournament.
