Sylvain Francisco powered France to a 103-95 win over Slovenia in EuroBasket 2025 at Spodek Arena on Saturday. Francisco was unfortunately subjected to racial abuse online after the game for “tricking” Luka Doncic in the closing stages, and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Batum went off on X in response.
“Some of y’all are SICK even if you disagree with a BASKETBALL play, racism and hate are NEVER ACCEPTABLE at all. After Dennis Schroder earlier, now this… Major props to Sylvain, great game, brother. Keep shining and making us proud.”
Some of y’all are SICK even if you disagree with a BASKETBALL play, racism and hate are NEVER ACCEPTABLE at all. After Dennis Schroder earlier, now this…
Major props to Sylvain, great game brother. Keep shining and making us proud🫡🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/VRNc4UxnyA
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) August 30, 2025
As Batum, who retired from international play in July, pointed out, this incident comes on the back of Dennis Schroder being subjected to racial abuse in Germany’s 107-88 win over Lithuania on Saturday. It’s a shame that this keeps happening in this day and age.
The abuse aimed at Francisco was caused by his making an uncontested layup after shaking hands with Doncic in the closing stages. That didn’t go down too well with the Slovenian team, and you can check out the sequence below.
Luka Doncic: “At the end we shook hands. The point difference can be important, but we shook hands. I didn’t think he’d go & score again”
French captain Guerschon Yabusele: “Every basket counts. Luka's mistake of wanting to shake hands when it should be up to the offense” pic.twitter.com/W7HN9hRhJJ
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) August 30, 2025
While one can be upset about Francisco’s decision there, racial abuse in any form can never be an acceptable response. The French guard even apologized for scoring that basket after the game.
“I said I was sorry,” Francisco said. “I actually went to shake hands and go to the layup like I said to Luka. The only thing that I really regret is just shaking hands — I should have told him, ‘Nah, play defense,’ because I was going for a tie.
“You know, we’ve got point differential, which is really important in EuroBasket, and that’s why it just clicked in my head,” Francisco added. “At the end of the day, I would never do that, but I take full responsibility for it, and I just gotta move forward.”
Point differential does matter in EuroBasket, but this was just a lapse in judgment on Francisco’s part. He recognizes that as well, and it’s just a shame that this overshadowed what was a great performance.
Francisco had 32 points (9-15 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals on the night. He went toe-to-toe with Doncic, who had 39 points (8-20 FG), eight rebounds, nine assists, and two steals in the loss.
France now sits atop Group D after winning each of its first two games, and will take on Israel next. Slovenia, meanwhile, is fifth after losing its first two, and will be up against Belgium next.
