A preseason elbow injury abruptly derailed what was a promising season for Nicolas Batum, although he eventually found the playmaking rhythm he’d become known for since arriving in Charlotte three years ago.
Going into the year, Batum was coming off the first summer in nine years in which he didn’t play for the French National Team. His hope was to be better prepared both physical and mentally following the time off, but a freak left UCL tear suffered in Detroit on Oct. 4 put his plans on hold.
He returned to action on Nov. 15, although it took some time for Batum to get back into the swing of things. He mentioned after the season that his elbow bothered him until about mid-February and that the six-week absence of former Head Coach Steve Clifford also affected his readjustment process as well.
Batum’s best play of the season came around the All-Star Break as he posted averages of 13.9 points on 43.0 percent shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 23 games from Jan. 26-March 15. Nagging soreness in his left Achilles’ tendon curbed his momentum soon afterwards and his production took a hit over the final few weeks of the season.
The Frenchman is already diligently rehabbing both injuries and will look to return in bounce-back fashion when the 2018-19 NBA season gets underway.
Nicolas Batum Through the Season
Check out scenes of Nicolas Batum during the 2017-2018 Season.
By the Numbers
- Batum ranked first in assists per game (7.0), tied for second in rebounding (5.8) and 10th in steals (1.00) amongst all NBA shooting guards with 20 games played following the All-Star Break.
- He finished with at least seven assists in a career-high nine-consecutive games from Feb. 14-March 6, the longest streak by a Charlotte player since 2009. Batum also notched a takeaway in 15-straight games from Feb. 8-March 13, which was another new personal best and the lengthiest stretch by any Hornet player in five years.
- The Frenchman recorded a pair of triple-doubles this season, giving him five with the Hornets and nine overall for his career. He is now tied with Larry Johnson for the second-most triple-doubles in team history, trailing only all-time leader Anthony Mason (7).
- In his second triple-double of the season on March 15 in Atlanta, Batum racked up a career-high 16 assists. It was the most assists by any player in franchise history in a triple-double and tied for the third-highest such total in the NBA this season.
- Batum now sits in seventh place on the franchise’s all-time three-point field goal leaderboard (366) and 10th in assists (1,208).
What’s Next?
Batum has three more years on his current contract, the last of which is a player option for the 2020-21 NBA season. This summer, he also plans to play for France in two FIBA World Cup qualification matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia on June 29 and July 2, respectively.
Exit Interview Quote
“[The elbow injury] bothered me a lot. Probably the first 40 or 50 games. Maybe I came back too early? I think I came back maybe three weeks too early. I wanted to come back so bad. Maybe I made a mistake on that part, but I can’t really regret that. That’s what I did and that was on me. Right now, I’m going to keep doing rehab for my Achilles and my elbow for the next six weeks. Going to take a couple days off and going to start working on my body, getting stronger.” – Nicolas Batum