The national basketball team of France has a long history in the game. It has been competitive over a long period of time and has had many achievements. The France basketball game is a national pride of the country and leaders have made much investment in the. The team administration is referred to as the French basketball federation. At the Eurobasket, the team has been very regular, having thirty six participations until 2011. Over the time, the team has won two silver medals, one in 1949, and another in 2011. Between 1932 and 2011, they achieved five bronze medals. The team has also participated in the summer Olympics, in which it won two silver medals, one in 1948 and another in 2000.

Between 1937 and 1959, the France national basketball team participated in a variety of basketball games and was a fierce competitor. In Eurobasket, a popular ligue basket (basketball league) the team won five medals during that period. During the 1948 Olympic championship, the team won a silver medal, under the leadership of Robert Bushnell, which was the first such medal in the history of the France team. They were second after the United States of America. The Olympic medal motivated the team, lifting it to a point of glory. They consequently won two consecutive medals shortly afterwards in the Eurobasket, one in 1951, and another in 1953. This was under the leadership of Coach Andre Vacheresse. The period of glory then faded gradually until 1980s. 1980s were years marked by rejuvenation of hope, where the team returned to the Olympic Games in 1984 and later participated in the FIFA World Championship. The team suffered player losses and injuries, but it still had good performances. There were also some internal problems within the team, but they maintained their motivation. The team however did not win any medal in the 80s despite the good performances. The following decade was marked by a series of rise and falls, but with at least some critical motivating achievements.

One of the highest achievements was in the world championnat monde basket (basketball championship) in 2006. The team finished the fifth place, a performance that granted them an automatic qualification to participate in two big competitions after that. These turned out to be the world championship in 2010 and the European Championship in 2011. During the Euro championship, the France National Basketball team took position two, marking the best performance over a period of 60 years under the leadership of Tony Parker, an inspiring French Basketball icon.

Author's Bio: 

Josephine Martin is the author of the article on basket en live (basketball live) and basketball streaming. Her field of interest is sports and recreation. For more information visit : http://www.basketballstreaming.net/