Ten days before the London Olympics in 2012, a “good little friendly match” as Jacques Monclar would say, took place in Paris Bercy between the two best enemies of European basketball. In this exhibition match, Mickaël Gelabale and Rudy Fernandez were ejected following coming close to putting on the gloves and entering the octagon. Without rules, of course.
With a big week to go before the start of the London Olympics and only a year following their clash in the EuroBasket 2011 final, it was obvious that this friendly match would not be in any way, if not at the level of the stakes. . Since the defeat a year earlier and Rudy Fernandez’s attack on Tony Parker, things weren’t the same between the Spanish winger and the Frenchies. That, Mike Gelabale must have remembered.
There are less than 3 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter when Gelabale steals the ball from the Spaniards following a deflection (a word not to be confused) from Boris Diaw who runs quickly in front. Fernandez finds himself facing Gelabale, who for once has the ball (we imagine that no one has ever done that one) and tries to intercept the all-terrain pass that the French winger tries. As usual, Rudy pulls out all the stops and upsets Mike who, how can I put it reasonably, will react with a touch of impulsiveness: big stroller tah an alcoholic lumberjack who has been badly spoken to regarding his wife here we go. Rudy comes back full of bad intentions and Gelabale fends him off once more before the two are separated – among other things – by the cabinets Serge Ibaka and Kevin Séraphin. The referees will finally decide to send off the two bellicose players to sanction and avoid any other volley in the jaw followingwards. One of the two players will take longer than the other to get out of the field, furious to receive the same sanction and scolding the referees with “But it’s him who started it’s not fair!” “. Obviously we are talking regarding Rudy Fernandez, our favorite painkiller.
49-56 following 30 minutes. The exclusion of Rudy Fernandez and Mickaël Gélabale for the start of a fight did not change the situation.
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) July 15, 2012
The meeting will be won by Spain (75-70) and the two teams may not know it, but this short episode will be in line with the historic rivalry between the two nations, even if it was not “only” a friendly match. A few weeks later, Nico Batum will continue the tradition by sending a right hook in the purses of Juan Carlos Navarro. The beginning of a great love story.
This altercation will be the most striking fact of the meeting (it suits us since Spain had won). Mickaël Gelabale no longer playing for the Blues, we should not come to that tomorrow in the final. Although friend Rudy is still around…
