Nicolas Batum Was 2 When He Saw His Dad Die on the Court. Now He's Dedicating His NBA Career to Him (Exclusive)

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Nicolas Batum of the LA Clippers on March 18, 2025

• Nicolas Batum was a baby when his father, a professional basketball player, died on the court during a game
• Batum, who witnessed the tragedy, tells PEOPLE how it affected his own basketball career and transition into fatherhood
• Batum opens up about how the trauma impacted his disappointing stint in Charlotte

LA Clippers fan-favorite Frenchman Nicolas Batum was just two years old when he saw his father Richard collapse to the floor during a French professional basketball game in 1991.

Richard, who emigrated from Cameroon to France to play basketball professionally, was 31 when he died from a ruptured aneurysm in front of his wife and young son, as he stood at the free throw line. "That's the only memory I have of him," Batum, now 36, tells PEOPLE during a practice at the Clippers' new facilities inside Steve Ballmer's $2 billion Intuit Dome.

Witnessing his father's sudden death became "a difficult subject at home," he recalls, "especially when I became a basketball player."

"I started talking about it with people when I got older," explains Batum, who is heavily featured in Netflix's Court of Golddocuseries for his role in leading France to a silver medal in Paris. "They said, 'How do you remember that?' and I'm like, 'I don't know.' I got flashes from that night at the hospital, with my mom crying, stuff like that. It's not an easy memory to have, but I have it."

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Nicolas Batum as a child

"I hear a lot of stories, so I kind of knew who he was on the court," says Batum, describing his late father as a "big man, banger, tough guy" player and himself as "the opposite."

Following in his father's footsteps after watching him die on the court created uncertainty for Batum as he navigated his career. "I think I have a weird relationship with basketball," he says. "To add that, kind of, ghost, technically, to know what he did, it can kind of gave me a personal challenge to do better than him. I think when you're the son of someone you have that challenge, maybe, to surpass him. Like, he did that, so I have to do that."

"I love the game, but I also know why I got this, as I said, challenge, for me. I think it was to finish something he couldn't do."

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Nicolas Batum of France in the Paris Olympics on Aug. 10, 2024

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And with two Olympic silver medals, nearly two decades in the NBA and a diehard pocket of Clipper fans who describe themselves as the Batum Battalion cheering him on, the Frenchman feels like he's made his late father proud.

"I'm pretty proud of myself, to be honest. I wanted to do something like my dad was, but I didn't expect to end up captain of the national team and be in the NBA for 18 years," says Batum. "I did my part and I think I finished what he started."

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And "I don't think dad's mad about it," Batum adds, "I think he'd be proud of me for that."

The impact of losing his father so young and continuing to hold the memories came to a head in 2016 when Batum signed his biggest contract yet, a five-year deal for $120 million from Michael Jordan's Charlotte Hornets. In 2020, the team waived him and the fallout put a stain on Batum's career.

"It was difficult for me just to play," says Batum. "It was something I didn't want to talk about. When my wife got pregnant, we were very happy. And then when he was born, a lot of stuff resurfaced and I didn't think about it or expect it. I didn't know it was that until I was scared sometimes just to be on the court," he shares. "Until he turned three years old, four years old, that was a very, very difficult time for me just to play basketball."

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Nicolas Batum of Team France with his son, Ayden, at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Batum, who didn't want his wife Lily to attend games with Ayden, recalls thinking about how his own son "can't go through" the trauma he experienced so young. "Basketball was tough for me, things did not end well with Charlotte, and then COVID happened."

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For Batum, the COVID-19 quarantines were actually a relief. "Spending time at home, just to think about life and not think about basketball for a couple of months, it helped me a lot," he says.

In 2020, he signed a deal with the LA Clippers and quickly became an essential role player for the team. Batum describes the move to Los Angeles as a "new beginning" for him and his family.

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Nicolas Batum of the LA Clippers on March 9, 2025

Now, he embraces having Ayden and his three-year-old daughter Nayelia at Clipper games. "I love it, To have them every night, I am looking for it every time, because since I moved, since 2020, really, I'm just happy they're at the game. My son he's into basketball, so he knows the players, he knows stats, he knows everything. And it's funny to see my daughter cheering for me."

Nayelia is typically cheering as soon as the team comes out of the tunnel, her dad says.

"That's my favorite moment every time. I turned that from being a complete nightmare to the best moment."

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