Former Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum has announced his retirement from the game of basketball following an 18-year NBA career.
Batum, 37, played his first seven seasons with the Trail Blazers from 2008 to 2015, before going on to play for the Charlotte Hornets (2015-2020), Los Angeles Clippers (2020-2023, 2024-2026) and Philadelphia 76ers (2023-2024). He also enjoyed a decorated 15-year career as an integral part of France’s national team, helping his country earn silver medals at the 2020 Olympic
Games in Tokyo and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The 6-foot-7 Frenchman broke the news about his retirement with a classy, heartfelt video posted to his social media accounts on Monday. The first half of the 10-minute video shows Batum in a sit-down conversation with his young son as he explains to him why he is ending his career. Then, the second half features Batum speaking directly to the camera, giving thanks to the various people and franchises who helped him during his journey (it’s really worth the watch).
“I want to thank also the fans in the States, all my coaches, the Blazers, Rip City fans — thank you,” Batum said in the video, as clips from his Blazers days overlaid his voice. “I was 19 years old when I started, and you welcomed me with open arms. And Coach Nate [McMillan] and Monty Williams really helped me grow my game. And all the Rip City fans, all of the Oregon state, was very amazing.”
The Blazers selected Batum with the No. 25 pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. His seven-year tenure with Portland marked his longest with any franchise throughout his career. Right off the bat, the lengthy, athletic forward established himself as the quintessential glue guy who could do a little bit of everything on both sides of the ball — secondary playmaking, spot-up 3-point shooting, perimeter and help-side defense. That versatility led to career per-game averages in Portland of 11.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks, complementing a 36.3% shooting mark from behind the 3-point line.
As a rookie, Batum was added to an upstart roster building around the young core of Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden. He immediately won the starting small forward spot during that 2008-2009 season, helping Portland go 54-28 and end a five-year playoff drought, before falling in the first round to the Houston Rockets. The next two seasons, while exciting, also ended in first-round playoff exits.
In the midst of a tumultuous 2011-12 lockout-shortened season, the Blazers fired McMillan and then initiated a roster shift led by new head coach Terry Stotts. Batum stayed through the change and brief losing period, and was again a key part of the Blazers’ return to the playoffs in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Led by an older Aldridge and rising star Damian Lillard, that roster deployed a strong supporting cast in the starting lineup with Batum, guard Wesley Matthews and center Robin Lopez. The group put together back-to-back 50 win campaigns and still holds a valid claim as Portland’s most talented roster since the 2000 Western Conference Finals team.
The high point of that group’s run came during that first breakout season in 2013-14, when Lillard’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 6 vanquished the Houston Rockets to give Portland its first playoff series victory in 14 years.
Batum was the trigger man on that historic play, inbounding the ball with a simple but crisp two-handed chest pass right into Lillard’s shooting pocket as the guard ran toward the left sideline. Lillard later revealed he broke from the play script — the play was originally supposed to go to Aldridge on the left block — by running directly to the ball, clapping his hands. Batum had the wherewithal to also improvise on the play, delivering the pass for the game-winning assist.
Portland was eliminated in the following round against the San Antonio Spurs, but that talented starting lineup all returned for the 2014-15 season with serious momentum. They looked to be building toward higher aspirations for the playoffs that year, until Wesley Matthews’ torn Achilles in March derailed the season. That season would end in the first round, and the Blazers would undergo a more extensive roster reset that summer. Aldridge, Matthews and Lopez left in free agency, and Portland traded Batum to the Hornets for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh that July.
While Portland managed to quickly find success again in a new era set up around Lillard and fellow guard CJ McCollum, that Blazers iteration never seemed to find foundational answers at the forward spots following the departures of Aldridge and Batum. As it stands today in the record books, Batum is sixth all-time in Blazers history in 3-point makes with 751. His four triple-doubles with Portland also ranks sixth all-time in franchise history.
We’ll leave you all with one more memorable Batum highlight from his Portland days. Enjoy this thrilling footage from the Blazers’ 98-96 win over the San Antonio Spurs on March 25, 2011:
From all of Rip City, we send thanks right back to you, Mr. Batum. Congratulations on a fantastic career, and good luck on your future endeavors.
