There’s something about suiting up for your national team in any sport that leads to athletes raising their level. That’s especially true in men’s basketball, as we’ve seen a number of players who get labeled as NBA journeyman find another gear when it’s time to represent their country, with two of the best examples of this being Dennis Schröder and Evan Fournier, as both guys are stars for Germany and France, respectively.
The two national teams took the floor on Saturday in a friendly before the Olympics in Paris, where both sides will compete and are actually in the same group as one another. During the game, Fournier and Schröder were involved in an incident where Schröder got fouled, Fournier stripped the ball away from him, and the two got face-to-face, with Fournier putting his hands around Schröder’s neck.
A scuffle between Schroder of Germany and Fournier of France! pic.twitter.com/P8YNMIc3WN
— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) July 6, 2024
You can see a better angle right here, which led to the two teams getting into it with one another.
Evan Fournier choked Dennis Schröder during the France vs. Germany game.
Fournier was ejected.
Good or bad call? 🤔
(via statline / IG)pic.twitter.com/tCcccRmSX0
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 6, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Fournier ended up getting ejected for ejected, but his absence didn’t hurt the French all that much in the end, as the hosts for the Olympic Games this summer were able to pick up a 90-66 win over the reigning FIBA World Cup winners. We’ll see if any bad blood lingers when the two teams go head-to-head again on Aug. 2 in the final game of Group B.