France basketball roster for 2024 Olympics: Who is Guerschon Yabusele?

Team France will be taking on Team USA for the gold medal in 5v5 men's basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics and NBA fans will notice more than a few familiar faces on the French roster. Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and Frank Ntilikina are all NBA veterans and youngsters Victor Wembanyama and Bilal Coulibaly are up-and-coming stars.

But the name Guerschon Yabusele may also stick out to NBA fans, and with good reason.

Yabusele has been the second-leading scorer for France in this tournament, averaging 12.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 55.2 percent from the field. The 6-foot-6 forward was selected by the Boston Celtics with the No. 16 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, ahead of Malik Beasley, Caris LeVert, Pascal Siakam, Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon.

He immediately became a fan favorite for the Celtics with his massive smile and unique combination of bruising strength and nimble agility. He was never able to permanently break into the Celtics' rotation, playing just 486 minutes in 74 games across two seasons. However, he was a force for Boston's G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, averaging 19.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.4 blocks per game across three seasons, shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from the line.

Yabusele was waived by the Celtics after the 2018-19 season and returned to Europe to play for French side AVSEL and eventually powerhouse Real Madrid where he has been a key rotation player for the past three seasons.

It's possible, given his strong play at the Olympics, that an NBA return could be in his future. Andrew Bernucca listed Yabusele as the fourth-best European free agent in his July 1 Big Board and Yabusele even joked with a Celtics reporter about returning to Boston after France beat Germany in the semifinals.