After France beat Team USA in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, French defensive stalwart an Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert admitted that he's been dreaming for the moment to come.
France beat Team USA, 79-89, to advance to the semifinals in China. While this year's version of USA Basketball wasn't that talented to begin with, many still saw it as a huge upset — especially Gobert who admitted he had always dreamed about beating the country who has reigned supreme in the basketball world ever since he was a kid.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for a while,” said Gobert, the Utah Jazz star center and two-time reigning NBA defensive player of the year, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
“When I was a kid and watching this game … I was thinking there was going to be a short window of time when we were going to do it. And tonight I was thinking that before the game, and that we might never get the opportunity again.”
Gobert finished with a monster game of 21 points and 16 rebounds. Evan Fournier, who plays for the Orlando Magic, led France with 22 points.
Despite achieving this dream of his, however, the Jazz big man still has his eyes locked on the prize. Beating Team USA was a great feat, but the real goal is to win the gold and bring honor to the country.
“It doesn’t mean much if we don’t win gold, but still, it will go down as the biggest win of my career,” Gobert said.
France will face Argentina in the semifinals. Will their inspiring win over Team USA be enough to power them to victory?
Follow Us
Subscribe
