NBA – Nicolas Batum admits: «I was the only one happy that COVID happened»

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

While still a Charlotte player, Nicolas Batum was cut by the Hornets following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. A decision the Frenchman does not regret at all, as he recently honestly admitted.

With 17 seasons in total, Nicolas Batum has come a long way in the NBA. And yet, his adventure across the Atlantic could have ended much sooner… After a solid start to with the Blazers, where he established himself as a complete player and good teammate, the Frenchman signed with the Hornets in the summer of 2015. All this came with a very nice contract, worth no less than $120 million over five years. The trouble began there…

Because Batum had a very difficult time justifying his salary in North Carolina, his contract even being considered for a time as the worst in the entire league. It must be said that things weren’t going well in Charlotte, with the franchise facing numerous internal upheavals while he was there. A guest on The Young Man and the Three podcast, the forward revealed what marked a turning point in his career:

Nicolas Batum talks about leaving the Hornets in 2020

They cut Steve Clifford. He was my coach. I loved that coach. So they cut him, move on from him and we have a new coach. And that’s the only time that happened in my career and that happens sometimes when the coach and player don’t get along. Like clearly, we didn’t get along. The way he viewed the game and the way I was playing the game, my game was, it didn’t match. I mean that’s pretty much what it was.

Still a starter in 2018-19, Batman would only play three games in the starting five the following season, finding himself literally nailed to the bench. It was then that the NBA was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the weak Hornets to end their season. After which the veteran was released from his contract, allowing him to join the Clippers where he quickly recovered:

I always say that I think I was the only one who was happy that COVID happened because it cut my season. I needed that, just to go home and stay home, and don’t do anything. And I went into a big depression, like I gained crazy weight. I was overweight like crazy. My agent said, ‘Don’t go outside, don’t show yourself for the next two months until you lose 30, 40 pounds.’

When I got waived, and Woj announced it on Twitter, I found out that way. I was in France, so time difference. I was cleaning my living room and toys with my son, like, ‘We need to go to bed.’ And my phone popped up, like, ‘Nic Batum got waived,’ that’s how I found out. I thought I was pretty much done, I was like, who was gonna want me though at that time and the team that got the most interested in me was the Clippers.