You’ll have to take a look at the civil registers, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the first name “Victor” is one of the most given in San Antonio in the coming months. A few weeks after landing in Texas, and before his first NBA game on the night of Wednesday to Thursday against Dallas, an entire city experienced the arrival of Victor Wembanyama as that of the ultimate savior. Murals, prayer candles with the image of the Frenchie, haircuts with Wemby’s face… Don’t throw away any more, give him the keys to the city.
The wait around the last number one of the Draft was already crazy in France, when he played in Boulogne-Levallois, it is excessive on the other side of the Atlantic, as Mark Burnett, supporter of the Spurs, tells us with the very special haircut (see the photo a little further down), capable of going to Oklahoma City just to be behind the San Antonio bench and see the Frenchman in preseason: “Having picked up Victor in the Draft, that was been a better feeling than winning a championship. Victor will change the NBA and the way basketball is played in the League. » Let us, a little (just a little), doubt it.
> Yes, but he will have a lot of pressure for a first NBA season!
Going from the Marcel-Cerdan Hall in Levallois and its 4,000 seats to the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio and its 18,500 seats can change you a man. Having American cameras trained on you non-stop, too. “He’s a very well-rounded boy, who has his head on his shoulders, and whose entourage will manage all requests,” said Chris Singleton, beIN Sports consultant. It’s a lot of waiting, but fortunately he’s in the right franchise, because if he ends up in Los Angeles or New York, with the media pressure, the celebrities… There, we’ll give him time to grow and develop in this environment. »
The first weeks spent in San Antonio show that the kid has already made a name for himself in this new world, to the point of dethroning club legends. “The fans immediately loved David Robinson and Tim Duncan [aussi #1 à la Draft]but their attachment to Victor was even greater after he made several stops in the city over the summer, tells us Tom Orsborn, journalist at San Antonio Express News. It is also much more media friendly and closer to the fans than Robinson and Duncan. »
With Wembanyama, San Antonio, which does not have a club in the NFL, NHL, MLS or MLB, hopes to expand its market, after years of struggle without a headliner and without results. For the moment, the contract is respected, its jerseys (the authentic one sold at $270) are being snapped up, according to Mark Burnett, as are subscriptions (the Spurs have just kept 5,000 seats on free sale for each match, reports The Parisian) and all eyes are directed towards the Texan city, which welcomed numerous French journalists, who came to cover their compatriot’s season. “ All eyes on me », as good old Tupac said.
> Yes, but physically, he is going to live through hell with an 82-game season!
This is perhaps the biggest question surrounding Victor Wembanyama’s first season in the NBA. With his slender frame (2.24 m and 95 kg), the former Asvel player will rub shoulders with bloodthirsty golgoths, with the desire to become the young Frenchman that everyone is talking about. According to The Team, the Spurs want to rest their “alien”, as LeBron James called him, every six, seven games. “The Americans are aware that he is physically fragile, with guys who are going to come and hit him,” explains Chris Singleton. He’s never experienced that, but the advantage he has is that he won’t play close to the circle. Physically, it will be less hard. »
A theory validated by Francisco Elson, NBA champion with the Spurs in 2007: “The game is no longer as physical as before, which will help it. In my time, we played a lot close to the basket, now that doesn’t exist anymore, all the players are three-point shooters, everyone dribbles. In my time, the big men never dribbled, apart from a little Duncan or Nowitzki. Before, you had an O’Neal who crushed you. Embiid, even Jokic, are almost the only ones, and still, to play physical near the circle. »
For the Dutchman, who also played for the Nuggets and the Bucks, the challenge, for Victor Wembanyama, will be to manage himself well: “I think everything will happen in his head. I don’t have his physique, obviously, but I also wasn’t very thick and I managed. So, him, who is #1 in the Draft… Yes, he will have a lot of pressure, but he has the best possible coach, Gregg Popovich, to help him in this situation, to help him progress. He’s an intelligent boy, who knows what he should and shouldn’t do. Playing every other day, flying across the country, it will be tough. But it will be up to him to be ready. »
Ready, too, to face teams who have already put anti-Wembanyama plans in place. Thus, Dallas will show up at the Frost Bank Center with a strategy already prepared in training. We could see God Shammgod defending with artificial arms to expand his amplitude, so that the Mavs’ offensive players were ready to avoid counterattacks from the sprawling Frenchman.
> Yes, but playing in a team that doesn’t win will piss him off!
The crazy density of the Western Conference should hold no surprises. Barring a miracle, the Spurs should not play in the play-offs at the end of the season. Very young team (Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, etc.), not enough experienced players to be able to carry the team. So, how will Wemby, who fought for the French championship title with the Mets 92, and who was often dominant, survive not playing to win?
“It’s true that he has mostly been in winning teams,” explains Frédéric Donnadieu, president of Nanterre 92, who accompanied Wemby from the age of 10 to 18 and was with him at the Draft. But, before he left for Asvel, we were not in a very good position, we won a lot of matches because he wanted to bring this energy. He has an enormous capacity for detachment. And then, he doesn’t think like that at all. In his way of seeing sporting performance, he is sure of himself, he is convinced that they will win a lot of matches. This is also one of his strengths, never having a negative outlook. »
As the Americans like to say, there is above all a whole process around Wembanyama, who will grow as much as he makes the Spurs grow. “Even if it takes time, Spurs can wait, because it’s sure that it will happen, there will be a title with Wembanyama,” assures Mark Burnett. We’re not going to ask Victor to win us a championship in the first two years, we know it’s impossible. But in three to five years, we will have to count on us. » Finally especially on Victor Wembanyama.