Nicolas Batum
ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 9: Nicolas Batum #5 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball against the Atlanta Hawks on February 9, 2019 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Charlotte Hornets guard Nicolas Batum is excited about the coming NBA Paris Game 2020. He spoke about what this game means for the French basketball fans, how he fell in love with the NBA and his childhood watching NBA games.

On the NBA Paris Game 2020…

It’s huge [NBA Paris Game 2020], I’m very happy for France, the city of Paris and the French people who love basketball and the NBA because we’ve been wanting it for a while. I think the last game in France was in 2010 and we have a lot of French players playing basketball in the NBA so I’m very excited for the city and the country in general because I think they deserve it.

On his love of the NBA…

We grew up watching the NBA, the games were at 4am so it was tough to watch it live but we tried to follow it anyway. We would record the games and watch the next day as after we’d done our homework we were allowed to watch the NBA. It wasn’t easy at the time because we didn’t have League Pass or anything like that but we still found a way to watch the league and I grew up with it.

On the Paris Game being the First regular-season game in France…

It’s great because it used to be a preseason game every time and TP [Tony Parker] played a couple of times. Actually the first time I saw an NBA game was when I watched the Spurs play the Grizzlies in Paris in 2004 which was great. When the Chicago Bulls won the NBA Championship in 1997 with Michael Jordan that was a huge thing in Paris so I’m excited for people in France to have the chance to watch a real game.

The Charlotte Hornets will host the Milwaukee Bucks at The AccordHotels Arena on January 24 2020. Fans can register their interest in tickets and gain access to presale information and more by visiting NBAEvents.com/ParisGame.