Raynaud says he aims to help France win Olympic gold at the 2028 Games

French basketball has another long-view ambition story now — and this one is coming from a player who just crossed into the NBA. Maxime Raynaud spent this week talking openly about what he wants from the next phase of his career, and he did not keep the goal modest. He said he wants to help France win Olympic gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, with the extra edge of beating the United States on its own floor. That lands because Raynaud is not talking from the outside anymore — he is a Sacramento Kings rookie, a former Stanford big man, and an increasingly real part of France’s next national-team wave. (radiofrance.fr) ### What exactly did Raynaud say? In a France Inter appearance published April 29 and in comments picked up by BeBasket, Raynaud framed the next big landmarks very clearly: the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2031 World Cup, which France is set to host. The line that stuck was the blunt one (radiofrance.fr)year. (radiofrance.fr) ### Why does “at home” matter so much? Because France just lived the near-miss version of this story. In the men’s final at Paris 2024, the United States beat France 98-87 for gold. France took silver, and Victor Wembanyama led the French side with 26 points in that game. So when Raynaud talks about Los Angeles 2028, he is plugging himself into an unfinished national-team arc — not inventing one from scratch. (fiba.basketball) ### Why is Raynaud worth listening to now? Because the context changed. A year ago, this would have sounded like a college player projecting forward. Now he has been drafted by Sacramento with the No. 42 pick in 2025, and his profile is bigger on both sides of the Atlantic. NBA.com lists him as a 7-foo(fiba.basketball)unds over 74 NBA games in 2025-26. That makes the national-team talk feel less hypothetical. (nba.com) ### Where does he fit in France’s bigger picture? Basically, France keeps producing giant, skilled frontcourt players, and Raynaud sees himself as part of that pipeline. BeBasket tied his comments to the “generation Victor Wembanyama,” which is the right frame. France already has elite size and shot creation at the top end. What it needs for a real gold push(nba.com)d NBA-level contributors. Raynaud is trying to become one of those. (bebasket.fr) ### Is he choosing France over the NBA? No — and that is the important nuance. The pitch is not “forget the NBA and chase international glory.” It is the opposite. Raynaud’s route to being useful for France runs through NBA development first. BeBasket reported earlier in April that he is eager to join France(bebasket.fr)eam goal is long-term, but the day job is still becoming better in Sacramento. (bebasket.fr) ### Why say this out loud now? Because public goals do two things. They tell fans how a player sees himself, and they tell the federation he wants in. Raynaud is not waiting to be introduced as a future Bleus piece by somebody else. He is volunteering for the role. That matters on a team with real competition for minutes, especially in the frontcourt. (bebasket.fr) ### What’s the bottom line? Raynaud’s comments are not news because they guarantee anything. They matter because they show how fast he thinks his timeline is moving. France already has silver. Raynaud is talking about the next step — gold in Los Angeles, against the U.S., with him in the picture. (radiofrance.fr)