He is undoubtedly not the most famous French of the general public but, for the specialists of the basket, Léo Westermann is one of the most famous Tricolores on the continental scene.
Champion of Serbia with Partizan Belgrade (2013, 2014), of France with Limoges (2015), of Lithuania with Žalgiris Kaunas (2017, 2019), of Russia with CSKA Moscow (2018), the 28-year-old international tricolor Now aiming for the title in Turkey with Fenerbahçe Istanbul.
A mission delayed due to the cancellation of the championship last season for health reasons.
With his club, Westermann will also play underdogs in the Euroleague which begins this Friday.
What is your state of mind before returning to competition?
LEO WESTERMANN.
Staying five months without any collective training and without competing in competition is not easy.
We had to adapt and make a crescendo recovery.
The body needs to get used to the rhythm of high level sport again.
We experienced an exceptional situation.
How did you experience the confinement?
We were the last championship to stop.
After the announcement I stayed in Turkey, my son Milan was born during this period.
We felt good in Istanbul.
We could go out except on weekends when everything was closed.
I returned to France at the beginning of June after receiving my son's passport.
Çok tatlı bir foto 😍 pic.twitter.com/0JZyBtPKSB
- Nando De Fener (@fanofbbasketbal) August 8, 2020
Did you miss basketball?
Obviously but honestly, during the confinement, I quickly switched to something else.
For once, I had the chance to enjoy my family, my daughter (
Editor's note: Mila, almost 5 years old
).
I now know that being a teacher is a hell of a job (smile)… These are rare moments.
I really appreciated.
And now ?
Everyone is hungry, from basketball and sports in general.
Me the first.
Watching basketball on TV again with the NBA does a lot of good.
I can not wait for everything to resume hoping it is possible.
It was very pleasant to find the partners.
In the club, there have been a lot of changes, players and the coach (
Igor Kokoskov, European champion with Slovenia in 2017
) who was the first European to coach in the NBA.
Everyone is very excited.
Even though the budget has shrunk a bit, there are a lot of expectations and high goals.
Are you worried that the season will be disrupted again by the health situation?
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
There are big fears that it will be.
Less for the Turkish championship, which resumed on September 26, because it is already planned that we play the first phase behind closed doors and all measures are highly respected here.
But I'm a little more scared for the Euroleague.
That is to say ?
We see some countries like Israel that are re-defining themselves.
In France or Spain, the rates of spread of the virus are increasing.
There are positive cases in many teams.
It will be very complicated to manage even if we are tested regularly, up to 3 times a week, before each match.
Turkish rooms are famous for their ambiance.
Must it be strange playing behind closed doors?
It's special to hear the shoes creaking on the floor, the smallest thing, the echoes.
These are not sensations that players like to hear in basketball.
I don't know how it's going to go but some clubs will be penalized and it's a real headache for the Euroleague.
But we have no choice.
🎂 Third at Euro 2015, @westermann_leo (28 caps) celebrates his 28th birthday this Friday.
Happy birthday Leo 😊 pic.twitter.com/RYeivuLwZW
- French Basketball Teams ⛹️♂️⛹️♀️ (@FRABasketball) July 24, 2020
Should he resume?
Of course, it's a huge business that isn't just about players or coaches, but impacts a lot of people and jobs.
Everywhere, people returned to work for the country's economy, we also had to resume.
The Tokyo Games are due to be held next summer - with the risk that NBA players may not be able to compete in them - do you think about it?
It's not an obsession but the Games are in a corner of my head ... It's been a few years since I was called up for the France team (
his 28th cap dates back to Euro 2017
) but I remain ready if the opportunity presents itself.
I play for a big club and I work every day to improve myself.