Basketball: Ousmane Dieng, a Frenchman crowned NBA champion
On Sunday night, Ousmane Dieng experienced "the most stressful match of all the playoffs." The basketball player won with Oklahoma City in the seventh and final round of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers (103-91), becoming the seventh Frenchman to win the championship. Even though he only played about thirty seconds of the match, "it's a dream come true," the 2.06m forward told L'Équipe.
Born in 2003 in Villeneuve-sur-Lot (Lot-et-Garonne), Ousmane Dieng has never played professionally in France. He began playing basketball when he was only three years old, and in 2018 joined the federal center of INSEP (National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance). There, he rubbed shoulders with some of France's top basketball hopefuls, including Victor Wembanyama and Armel Traoré.
Ousmane Dieng stayed at INSEP for three seasons. In 2021, with him tipped to be a top 10 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, he chose to continue his training in a rather unusual destination: New Zealand. His team, the New Zealand Breakers, finished last in the NBL, the Australian league. But the Frenchman had a promising season, finishing with nearly 9 points and more than 20 minutes played on average per game.
On the big day of the 2022 draft , Ousmane Dieng was ultimately selected 11th overall. He was selected by the New York Knicks, who immediately traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Frenchman played little with the first team, often appearing in games for the Oklahoma City Blues, a sort of reserve team that plays in the American minor league. In 2024, he won the championship, being named MVP (best player of the game) in a final in which he scored 25 points.
This season, Ousmane Dieng has not yet had the opportunity to shine much with the Thunder, playing only 37 matches, with an average of 11 minutes. The same is true for the French national team. Although he was in the European cadet vice-champion group in 2019, he has not yet played any matches with the senior team. Pre-selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games , he was finally discarded a few weeks before the start of the competition.
Last night's title win could change everything. And perhaps open the door to the French national team. The answer came on Wednesday, June 25, when France coach Frédéric Fauthoux's pre-selection for the next Euro, which will take place from August 27 to September 14, was announced.
La Croıx
