Basket Landes in the final. Tributes, clever calculations: the jersey number, a choice that is anything but trivial

Why does Leïla Lacan wear the number 32? Was Marie Pardon forced to wear the number 5, the one usually assigned to the leader? Is Sixtine Macquet superstitious about her number 13? "Sud Ouest" asked the Landaises to get the answer to all these questions.

Not so long ago, fantasy had little place on the basketball court: jerseys were numbered from 4 to 15 and that was it. Each position was automatically assigned a number. For the past few seasons, it has been possible to choose a number ranging from 0 to 99. This allows everyone to find the one that suits them best and that they enjoy wearing...

Marie Pardon: 5 “It’s my lucky number. I was born on January 5th, and there are five of us in my family.”

Myriam Djekoundade: 9 "I like having this number, which is a tribute to my mother who passed away: she was born on September 9, 1969. When I arrived at Basket Landes, I was even happier to be able to take it because it was that of "Caps" (Céline Dumerc, Editor's note), whom I really liked as a player. I am proud to be part of this line of players who don't cheat. In the French team, I wear number 11, it was my mother's number when she played."

Sixtine Macquet: 13 "I had the number 12 for a long time, like my father. I left it with a friend at INSEP and took the number 13. I wanted a number with a 3 because it sounds good. It was also the number of a friend who passed away. For all these reasons, it became my lucky number."

“That’s the number I was given when I was little, and I’ve always kept it.”

Clarince Djaldi-Tabdi: 14 "That's the number I was assigned when I started. It's mainly a tribute to my mother, whose birthday is on December 14th."

Luisa Geiselsöder: 15 "I've always had it. When I started with the youth team, the numbers went from 5 to 15 and corresponded to the position, and since I was tall, they forced me to take 15. And then finally I kept it because I realized that it was exactly in the middle between my brother, who had 8, so -7, and my sister, who had 22, so +7. I like it, it's a nice nod."

Yohana Ewodo: 16 “When I was little, I had the number 4. I always told myself that I would double that number when I accomplished something. So, when I turned pro, I took the number 8. When I arrived at Basket Landes, the number 8 was already assigned. So I told myself that it was the right time to double it again, and that's how I ended up with the number 16. I like it, I think I'll keep it (smiles).”

Destiny Slocum: 24 "That's the number I was assigned when I was little, and I've always kept it, I care about it. I got it tattooed and I wear it as a pendant."

Louise Bussière: 28 "When I was thinking about a number, I thought about combining my father's and my uncle's numbers when they played rugby. My father was a hooker, so 2, and my uncle was a flanker, so 8. Which makes 28 (laughs)."

Leïla Lacan: 32 "At first, I wanted 12, which is the department number for Aveyron (Leïla is from Rodez, editor's note), but it wasn't possible; it was already taken. So I chose 32, which is the number for Gers, a department where I have many friends."

Kourtney Treffers: 42 "It's a very important number for me: it was my mother's number, she was a basketball player, and she passed away in 2001. She notably played for the University of New Jersey. My mother is my motivation and my faith, my reason for playing: everything I do, all the effort I put in, it's for her."