France is headed home from the 2023 FIBA World Cup much earlier than anyone expected. Following a loss to Canada in their opener, France fell to Latvia and has no chance of advancing to the knockout round.
“I’ve never been ashamed with this jersey, but this is the first time I’m ashamed,” LA Clippers forward Nic Batum said in the post-game presser. “I’m scared to go home because we let a lot of people down. A lot of people believed in us to do something special. We didn’t do it.”
Teammate Evan Fournier echoed Batum’s disappointment.
“We got to go home,” Fournier said. “It’s very tough. Very hard. We didn’t think we would leave the tournament like this.”
Despite being knocked out of the World Cup earlier than expected, France will still feature in the 2024 Summer Olympics. They are automatically qualified for the games as the host nation.
