Fans Confirm Rui Hachimura’s Ejection During Paris Olympics “Referees Support France”
The latest bout against Rui Hachimura during the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked quite a reaction from fans around the world. As some in the basketball community know, Hachimura is an NBA star currently playing for the Lakers. He hails from Japan and was an obvious choice for their national team.
Team Japan recently faced off against Team France in a group stage match. Although Japan didn’t have the same star talent as France, they still put up a good fight. During the game, there was a foul call that appeared to be quite controversial. With that being said, let’s take a closer look and find out more.
Fans with Rui Hachimura accused of shoving Rudy Gobert
One could argue that Team France is the biggest threat to Team USA in its pursuit of an Olympic gold medal. After all, the duo of Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert have single-handedly made France an elite defensive team. More importantly, it gives them an incredible sense of presence and size in the paint.
They just sent off Rui Hachimura for one of the most bland unsportsman-like calls you’ll ever see against France at the Olympics.
terrible pic.twitter.com/T7kQl3voDw
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 30, 2024
When Rudy Gobert secured the ball and attempted to finish off a post shot by Hachimura, Rui appeared to grab Rudy’s elbow to drag him to the ground and block the shot attempt. Although it was a foul, many believed the officials were interested in awarding France and may even show favoritism,”The referees are supporting France, people and they can’t convince me otherwise.
The referees are supporting France, man and they won’t convince me otherwise
— Lakers On 𝕏 (@LakersOnX) July 30, 2024
This might actually be the worst call I’ve ever seen 😭
— Unbiased News (@UBNewss) July 30, 2024
It is clearly set up for France to win
— Curryglazer (@myglorious30) July 30, 2024
Haha he was playing so well they should get Wemby W 💀
— Tre (@TreShonRouse) July 30, 2024
Since Rui was involved in 2 hard fouls, there is no absolute defense for his actions. However, the point fans are trying to make in this case is that he was punished too harshly.
France managed to beat Japan in a dramatic OT win
If France really had referees, they would have needed more foul calls to beat Japan. After all, the game was tied at the end of regulation and had to go into overtime. France beat Japan in OT by a final score of 90-94.
While NBA fans assumed that officiating on the international stage would be better, it became clear that no team of referees is perfect and mistakes are bound to happen. Perhaps France’s victory over Japan did not happen and was decided by a foul call. Regardless, Japan still has a good chance of overcoming this defeat to fight for the gold medal.