I don't know where the other French people on this forum live, or even what social class they belong to, but in my area, I've only ever met one person who was clearly interested in money. And it's not even overtly, as Americans might be; it was only after years of knowing him that I realized that the various activities he was involved in weren't driven by passion, but by the desire to see if there was money to be made. And he ultimately chose highly questionable activities in the hope of making money.
The vast majority of people I have known are mainly driven by their passions, by the pleasure of being with family and friends, and discovering new things. Money is never an end in itself, but always a means to an end.
And if there is one cliché about the French that is perfectly true, it is that it is considered vulgar to flaunt your money or talk about how much you earn. Doing so will immediately make you come across as superficial and self-interested, and therefore incapable of holding a conversation. This is not a cliché; the majority of French people pay much more attention to human relationships and their living environment than to money. The American way of life celebrates individual success, while the French way of life celebrates the richness of social and personal relationships. If French people claim that this is not true, let them tell me where they live and what their social class is...
Two things should not be confused: opportunity and purpose. French athletes are driven by a love of the game. This is a difference emphasized by many French players when they compare themselves to American players. For American players, basketball is a way out of poverty. When you succeed, you are proud to show signs of wealth. You'll never see that with French players (who nevertheless have a much more developed American culture than their compatriots and very often have diverse roots, but for example, many have African roots, and it seems to me that many Africans share these values).
Risacher, whatever we think of him as a player, said that he stood out from his teammates precisely because, apart from his car, he remained French in his mind and didn't flaunt his money in other ways.
For Americans, sport and money are an end in themselves. For a French person, it's passion, often a passion for beautiful moves, a passion for the history of the game. No player will turn down a big contract... if the opportunity arises. Yabusele lost money by coming to the NBA. Big contracts in Europe are more lucrative than small contracts in the NBA. But French players sometimes have opportunities in the NBA: the franchises know what they can bring.
Apart from Victor, franchise must picture the typical French player in the image of Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw. Typical glue guys. Their style of play perfectly reflects the French mentality. Both were unhappy in Charlotte because they were asked to be “American,” to score points, to earn their money... That's not how it works with many French players or French people. Relationships and the living environment are more important than being the star player of a franchise in the hope of earning more and more money. Yabusele didn't turn down $5 million in the hope of earning more this summer, he did it because he wants to play. In any case, if no one offers him a contract, we already know that there have been offers from European clubs.
French players love the game, they want to be respected and receive the contracts they are entitled to, not because they are in love with money, but because they care about equality and fairness: if their colleagues are entitled to this money, they don't want to be treated differently. Typically French once again.
tbh... per par...
