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Par Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Journaliste sportif
Alex Sarr’s solid first NBA campaign has been rewarded with a selection to the All-Rookie First Team. While waiting to find out whether this will open the doors to the French team, he was clear about his availability for the Euro.
Between them, they’re still making history. Drafted in the 1st and 2nd positions last year, Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr recently became the first French players to jointly appear on an NBA All-Rookie First Team. A fitting reward, especially for the young French pivot, who has established himself as one of the Wizards’ few sources of satisfaction.
Alex Sarr at the Euros with Les Bleus? He gives a straight answer
Surrounded by a certain amount of pressure in recent months, Sarr was able to withstand it and generally live up to his 2nd pick status. This has enabled him to establish himself as one of the most promising young French players in the league, with more and more of them coming through the years, and thus fulfill one of his long-standing objectives. Indeed, he explains to Grant Afseth of RG:
Alex Sarr: It’s clear that basketball has grown in France over the last decade. The NBA always inspired me when I was younger. I used to watch the games and want to be part of it. I’d see French players on TV and think, “One day, I want to be one of them.”
All that remains now is to complete other quests that are close to his heart. Among them, the opportunity to join the French A team and rub shoulders with his team-mate in Washington, Bilal Coulibaly, as well as other expatriate compatriots in the United States. In his opinion, this diaspora should prove beneficial to Les Bleus:
Alex Sarr: There are a lot of French players in the league at the moment and I think our selection is going to look pretty good.
But will Freddy Fauthoux be able to call on him for the upcoming Eurobasket? In any case, the U19 international has left the door wide open for him:
Alex Sarr: Representing my country has always been a blessing for me, so of course I’d like to be part of it.
The current context could actually work in Sarr’s favor. Victim of a venous thrombosis which he continues to treat, Victor Wembanyama is likely to withdraw from the competition, leaving a place in the French line-up. The Wiz’ interior could then seize it and take full advantage of it according to an international scout interviewed by Grant Afseth :
For someone like Sarr, the exposure offered by a competition like this is enormous. And it can only help a young talent like him to progress.
