“I was two years old but got memories about it” - 15-year-NBA veteran recalled his father passing away on the basketball court

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While Nicolas Batum might never have been a household name in the NBA throughout his 15-year career, his journey to the league is a tale of perseverance and resilience. At the tender age of two, the Philadelphia 76ers forward witnessed a traumatic event that could have easily derailed his dreams: the sudden and shocking demise of his father on the basketball court. However, instead of getting deterred, this experience made him even more determined to carry on his family’s legacy on the hardwood and pave his way to the association.

Batum saw the ultimate tragedy

Nicolas’ father, Richard Batum, was a powerful forward who emigrated from Cameroon to play professional basketball in France during the 1980s. Like his son, Richard was known for his physical style of play and his willingness to embrace contact on the court. Tragically, in September 1991, when Nicolas was just a few months shy of his third birthday, Richard collapsed and passed away on the court while shooting shots from the charity stripe with his wife and son in attendance in the stands.

Initially, many assumed he had suffered a heart attack, but it was later revealed that the cause of his sudden passing was a ruptured aneurysm.

Despite being a mere toddler at the time of that horrific incident, the visuals were stuck in Nicolas’ head.

"I can remember when my father went down, and I can remember later, when I wake up, all of the TV stations around and my mom crying and all the craziness going around," Nicolas said. "Here I was two years old, but I’ve got memories about it."

Despite witnessing what happened to his father while playing basketball, Nicolas was determined to make a name for himself and carry his father’s legacy in the sport, and unsurprisingly that was enough to fuel the fire within him to become one of the best players in all of Europe as a teenager.

In 2004, he led the junior French national team to win the FIBA Europe Under 16 Championship. Then, in 2006, Nicolas was named the MVP of the FIBA Europe Under 18 Championship, as his country won the gold medal. Furthermore, that same year, he averaged 19 points per game in the Under 18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany and was named the MVP as well.

The NBA dream had its share of struggles

In 2008, when Nic decided to enter his name in the NBA draft, a pre-draft electrocardiogram (stress test) by a Toronto Raptors physician raised concerns about his health after he revealed the tragic incident he witnessed as a toddler. With an absurd chain reaction set, plenty of teams refused to let him work out for them despite Nicolas having healthy test results in Cleveland and San Antonio. This reluctance hampered Batum's improvement in his draft position and ultimately made him fear that he would even get drafted.

Fortunately, the Houston Rockets drafted him with their 25th overall pick but subsequently traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he averaged 11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game over the course of seven seasons.

Having shown flashes of how formidable he could be, Nic went on to sign a five-year, $120 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets, the biggest in Charlotte sports history at the time. Though he was unable to perform as well as he was paid, the French native himself was quick to admit his shortcomings and apologize to Hornet fans for not living up to the hype.

It’s almost unimaginable for a modern-day player to do that, but it showcased how hardworking yet humble the Frenchman had always been. Despite an incident that would have deterred many from considering a career in basketball, he remained committed to his personal growth and improvement even after making it to the big stage.