FIBA World Cup: RJ Barrett In No Position To Trash Talk With Evan Fournier

FIBA World Cup: RJ Barrett In No Position To Trash Talk With Evan Fournier

Before Canada’s opening Group H match against France in Jakarta, Indonesia, Barrett acknowledged he had been “talking smack to Evan Fournier every day for a while now.”

After being dropped from head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation last season, the French sharpshooter, who inked a four-year, $73 million deal in a sign-and-trade to join the Knicks in 2021, has become an outcast.

The French shooter, who joined the Knicks in 2021 on a four-year, $73 million sign-and-trade deal, has since lost his place in the team’s rotation under head coach Tom Thibodeau.

After falling to teammate RJ Barrett and Canada 95-65 in the opening game of their FIBA World Cup campaign in Jakarta, New York Knicks guard Evan Fournier and the French national team are starting again. Despite having an early advantage over Canada, France let it go in the third quarter, resulting in a 30-point rout.

The Knicks’ sharpshooter scored nearly half of France’s totals in the first half, helping his team fall behind 43-40 at the break. But Canada shut down Fournier in the third quarter, blanking him on four shots while winning 25-8 to put an end to the contest.

Additionally, Fournier has criticized the team in the media.

“I’m going to be traded, it’s not possible otherwise,” Fournier, speaking in his native French, told the outlet L’Equipe in July. “Or I’d be stuck, and so would they. They have several players with big contracts coming in. Unless they want to pay a crazy luxury tax.

“I’m going to be traded, it’s not possible otherwise,” Fournier, speaking in his native French, told the outlet L’Equipe in July. “Or I’d be stuck, and so would they. They have several players with big contracts coming in. Unless they want to pay a crazy luxury tax.

“If I stayed, it would be a disaster … for my career. I can manage a year without playing. Two, that would be terrible.”

Fournier’s playing time decreased last year, but he still managed to score six points a game.

After starting all 80 games during the 2021–22 season, he only participated in 27 games and seven of those were starts.

 

 

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