ORLANDO, Fla. — Evan Fournier doesn’t know exactly what this Christmas will feel like.
He just knows it’ll be different. Special.
The 27-year-old Orlando Magic swingman and his wife, Laura, will celebrate their first Christmas as parents. Laura gave birth to their son, Elias, in June.
“It’s going to be cool, but he’s obviously too young to understand,” Evan Fournier said in accented English. “But to have my family with me and my son for the first time, to be honest, I don’t know since it’s the first one. So I’ll see. But it’s definitely going to be an exciting time. We’re going to take a few pictures, and he’s going to have plenty of gifts that he’s not going to use.”
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Fatherhood has been fulfilling, Fournier said. Changing diapers is not difficult, but having a baby in the house makes it difficult to sleep through the night, not that Fournier is complaining. Magic road trips have become a double-edged sword; while they enable Fournier to catch up on his sleep without interruption from a crying baby, being away from home prevents him from seeing Elias develop in person.
Fournier has made major life transitions in the past. At 19 years old, knowing almost no English, he moved from France to Colorado to join the Denver Nuggets. He had no idea what Denver would be like, and whatever he knew about American customs came from watching NBA basketball or from watching American TV shows or movies. He wound up loving Denver, and he eventually found his way off the court, learning English to the point of easy fluency.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Fournier has adeptly juggled fatherhood and his basketball responsibilities. This season, his eighth year in the NBA and sixth with the Magic, has been his best season statistically. He leads Orlando in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game, and leads Orlando rotation players in 3-point shooting, making 41.9 percent of his attempts.
Shortly after Elias was born, Evan left Florida to train with the French national team and play in the FIBA World Cup in China. After he led France to a victory over the United States and a third-place finish in the tournament, he returned to Central Florida and had an emotional reunion with his infant son.
“I cried like a little girl,” Fournier said. “It was definitely a special, special feeling.”
Fournier picked up his son so often in those weeks that Fournier thinks the repeated awkward movements contributed to the back spasms he endured late in the preseason.
But he soon recovered. And Fournier, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July, may be Orlando’s most valuable player this season.
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Without his offense, the team might not have weathered its early season injury epidemic, which has included brief absences for Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross and extended absences for Al-Farouq Aminu, Michael Carter-Williams and Nikola Vucevic.
In the 11 games Vucevic missed because of an ankle sprain, the Magic compiled a 5-6 record. That may not seem impressive at first glance, but how much worse would the team have performed if Fournier had not averaged 24.1 points on 48.2 percent shooting during that 11-game stretch?
Vucevic has helped Fournier navigate the first few months of fatherhood. They are each other’s best friends on the team, often peppering the Magic locker room with conversations in French. This season, however, their conversations have taken on a different subject matter. Vucevic’s first child, a son named Filip, was born last December. So Fournier occasionally has asked Vucevic about what to expect during Elias’ early months of infancy.
“I wouldn’t say he’s really different,” Vucevic said when asked about Fournier. “Obviously, he understands his responsibilities are different. I guess you become a little more responsible and more mature because you have a kid. But I think the main thing for us now is a lot of times when we talk about stuff, it’ll be about our kids.
“It’s interesting to see how that changed for us, how we kind of look at things a little differently. Before, you’d go on a trip and it’d be different. Now, you can’t wait to get back home because you get to be with your family, your kids. It’s just a different feel. I don’t think it’s changed us in a crazy way, but it’s definitely changed us a little bit in the way we look at certain things.”
One of the differences that Fournier has experienced is seeing his parents as grandparents.
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Evan is the only child of François and Meriem Fournier, who are martial artists who excelled in judo. Evan inherited his physical toughness and competitiveness from both of them. He has said his mom suffered three finger dislocations during her judo career, while his dad dislocated his fingers four times but typically continued to grapple despite those injuries.
Evan has seen a softer side to his parents since Elias’ birth.
“Since I’m an only child, that’s the new baby in the family,” Evan said. “It’s definitely special for them. They’ve been waiting on that for a little while now.”
François and Meriem Fournier are visiting Central Florida from France for the holiday, and at least some of Elias’ Christmas gifts are from them.
The family will gather for a dinner of foie gras and a nice dessert.
Fournier might not know what his first Christmas as a dad will feel like, but he said he’ll cherish the time around his son, especially after the Magic’s recent weeklong road trip.
“Those long road trips, you definitely miss him,” Fournier said. “You miss his presence. Obviously, being back at home, it feels good. It really feels good because you want to see your kid and you want to spend time with him.”
And that’s why this Christmas will be especially memorable.
The chance to spend time with Elias and his loved ones will make this holiday extra special.
(Top photo: Kevin Sousa / USA Today)
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