SALT LAKE CITY – Evan Fournier is as fierce and fiery a competitor as there is on the Orlando Magic’s roster, so much so that he rarely ever shakes hands or bumps fists with foes before games and rare is it when he fraternizes with opponents following hard-fought games.
The one exception, however, is Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, a fellow Frenchman that Fournier has known since the two of them were 12-year-old shooting guards playing at the Institute of Sports Expertise and Performance (INSEP) on the outskirts of Paris.
Yep, you read that right – at one time, both the 6-foot-7 Fournier and the 7-foot Gobert were once shooting guards, and Fournier still has a clear memory of the big man’s transition from a wing player to someone now nicknamed, ``The Stifle Tower’’ because of his height, shot-blocking abilities and French background.