France’s Rudy Gobert Suffered Finger Injury Before Olympic Knockout Bracket Play

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVAugust 6, 2024

SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images

France’s men’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics with an 82-73 victory over Canada on Tuesday, but there was some concern with big man Rudy Gobert.

Gobert played fewer than four minutes and told reporters after the game that he suffered a finger injury during a practice ahead of the knockout rounds.

“I have full trust in my teammates and coaches,” he said of the reduced playing time. “It worked. You saw the way we started tonight. The guys were ready to play. They set the tone for the whole game.”

Sam Amick @sam_amickFrench coach Vincent Collet indicates this wasn’t surgery, but an exam that included an MRI and caused Gobert pain. It was a factor – but not at all THE factor – in his playing time. Collet wanted to go small(er). Gobert was cleared to play. Quotes coming… https://t.co/Mhzp3UWx3r

Gobert did not score and finished with a single rebound in the win over Canada, while San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finished with just seven points on a lackluster 2-of-10 shooting from the field.

Still, Canada was behind by double digits for much of the game in large part because of some relatively unknown names for NBA fans.

Guerschon Yabusele (22 points) and Isaïa Cordinier (20 points) paced the scoring for the victors and combined to hit six three-pointers. That kept a Canada team loaded with notable NBA talent such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray at bay even when France’s bigger NBA names weren’t very productive.

The good news for France is it is safe to assume Wembanyama will play better moving forward, which will only increase its chances of taking home a medal in front of the home crowd.

However, Gobert’s injury is reason for concern.

The road doesn’t get much easier from here with a semifinal matchup against a strong German squad that features Dennis Schröder, Franz Wagner, Daniel Theis and Moritz Wagner. Germany also won the 2023 FIBA World Cup and has plenty of size in the frontcourt.

Gobert’s ability to protect the rim and control the boards would be important in that matchup, as well as a potential gold-medal game clash against the United States with Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis.