The atmosphere at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio was confusing. Lights off, cell phones on, moving in all directions and sound system at 12 billion decibels to accompany Victor Wembanyama’s entrance, was it a basketball match or a Beyonce concert? American show, when you hold us.
On the pitch, the euphoria finally subsided for Wemby. Despite a successful first in the NBA, the prodigy struggled to get into his match against the Dallas Mavericks, with the added bonus of a cataclysmic 3rd quarter. Not always served by his teammates, the Frenchman made two consecutive offensive fouls which sent him to sit down (four in total at that moment, six fouls are eliminatory). A fifth immediate foul early in the fourth quarter sent him to the bench, limiting his total playing time to 23 minutes (of 48).
“Maybe I wanted to do too well, I didn’t put my energy into the right things. I don’t need to put so much energy into defense. I’m learning for a first match,” commented the Frenchman at a press conference.
The same first as Tim Duncan
The rest and end of the match is a delicious burst of pride. Wembanyama woke up his team and blew up the crowd with nine points in the last period including a furious dunk, for a total of 15 points (5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, but also 5 lost balls). A first which surprisingly resembles that of Tim Duncan, who still had a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists). The American had, it must be said, spent 12 minutes more on the floor.
All this proved insufficient for Spurs who were stunned at the end of the match by the class of Slovenian Luka Doncic who, after being uncertain, started the season with a triple double (33 points, 14 rebounds, 10 passes). The other crack of the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving, planted 22 points (for a defeat of the Spurs 126-119). This is what Wembanyama will have to fight against to establish himself in the firmament of American basketball.