NBA – The 4 big challenges for Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) for his first NBA season

“An anomaly of nature (…) with infinite potential on both sides of the field” for his teammate Jeremy Sochan. Jerry West talks to him about “fantastic player.“Erik Spoelstra, who has coached LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler, goes even further:”Until you see it in action, live, in person, there’s really no way to describe it.”

Victor Wembanyama is an alien in the basketball landscape. An alien who is about to make his official debut in the biggest league on the planet. And even though he has yet to play a single minute in the NBA, he has already impressed everyone in a few appearances during the Spurs’ preseason matches. But to assert himself as the generational basketball player that scouts and analysts promise, he will first have to submit to some Herculean challenges in his first season in the United States. With (almost) already the obligation to raise them as quickly as possible.

By choosing to leave ASVEL and join Boulogne-Levallois just before joining the NBA, the French prodigy offered himself a slightly more “quiet” season by giving up playing the Euroleague or any other continental competition. He therefore played 44 matches, playoffs included, 48 counting the qualifying windows for the World Cup with the France team, between September and June 2023. A total that he could reach in the space of just five months if he participates in all meetings with San Antonio. Or a much more intense rhythm.

Sustaining the shock is a test for any player arriving in the NBA. Hence the famous expression “rookie wall”, this time of year when the least experienced basketball players suffer the blow, because they are exhausted. Wembanyama will not be able to escape it. There will be tricky matches and less good moments. Fatigue will inevitably have an impact on his production during the season. Health is a major issue at this level. Especially for a boy of his size (2.24 meters). Examples of adults suffering from knee problems, for example, are numerous. He has been rather spared from physical problems until now but he has never been faced with such a dense schedule. It will be quite a test for him.

There is physical fatigue, of course, but above all there is nervous and mental fatigue. This one is even more complicated to manage. She doesn’t just depend on him. The hype around him is already beyond him and he realized it earlier this summer. Although he was preparing for an unprecedented craze around a young player arriving in the NBA, he was still surprised by the constant media attention since his departure for American soil. The native of Chesnay regretted, for example, “the five cameras that follow you everywhere, even into your room“, at the time of the Summer League.

“We had a sort of team meeting about the media and the attention on us, and how to deal with it“, admits Devonte Graham, veteran of the team. The Spurs are indeed propelled into another dimension in terms of treatment. The organization finds itself in the center of the spotlight even though it has always been perceived as a small, quiet market. More now. Not with Victor Wembanyama.

Nineteen Spurs matches will be broadcast on national television this season, compared to only 4 last year. It’s a change of universe. For him too, of course. Each of his actions will be scrutinized and analyzed, on and off the field. For now, it’s euphoria. But there will be criticism after every match without. After each poor performance. There will be questions as mistakes are part of the learning process for young players.

“I’m a little worried, of course. (…) The expectations are unrealistic and crazy. The only one I can compare him to in terms of those expectations is LeBron. He will have a lot of pressure“, underlined Tony Parker. Mychal Thompson, former first draft choice (1978) and father of Klay, went in the same direction: “Victor arrived in this League as the most hyped prospect in NBA history. To say he’s the greatest prospect in history is ridiculous. It’s unfair for Victor. Give it time to grow.”

By being presented as the next face of the league, the Frenchman is not being compared to his peers or other beginners. He will be put into competition with the greatest legends of this sport. He assured for the moment that he has succeeded in detaching himself from all that: “I don’t feel any pressure. These are stages that are part of life as a basketball player. When you have such high goals it’s normal that there is so much attention, questions and invasive people.”

Victor Wembanyama only played two Summer League matches and four more in preseason. Until then, apart from a duel with the Warriors, he mainly faced second knives, budding prospects and teams who relied mainly on their bench men. However, that didn’t stop him from being amazed by the talents present in the NBA: “The players have nothing to do with it. Almost everyone is athletic, unlike what I’ve seen in the past. Even the point guards can counter, take alley-oops, dunk… in terms of tactics, it’s different. But in terms of the individual level, it’s light years away.“

If there has always been a debate on the “tactical” level in the NBA and its comparison with the Euroleague, it is obvious that the American championship remains the toughest in the world. With the best players but also much faster basketball. The 19-year-old is very technically gifted but he will have to get his bearings in a completely different style of play.”What comes quickly is all the information, the new patterns, the principles of play. It’s a lot. Lots of things I’ve never seen before and don’t know. It’s difficult. If you lose focus for even a second, you’re screwed for the next 15 seconds..”

The other question mark often pointed out concerns his physique. He is very slender. Not necessarily frail but certainly very thin, even if he admits to having gained 7 to 8 kilos during the summer period. The idea is not to turn it into an ox but to help it strengthen itself enough so that it can withstand shocks without losing its qualities. It is possible that he will still suffer against certain more athletic or stronger defenders. Despite his size, for example, he will not be able to post all his contacts either. Against Golden State, he struggled to get the better of Andrew Wiggins with his back to the basket. The Canadian’s center of gravity is much lower and, despite being 20 centimeters shorter, he was able to contain the giant in this precise configuration.

Be careful, that won’t stop him from dominating. Victor Wembanyama shoots and dribbles like an outside player while being gigantic. He will be able to shine thanks to his strengths, in any league. But his goal isn’t just to be good, again. The sooner he gets used to the pace and level of physical demands of the NBA, the sooner he will assert himself as one of its best players.

When a player who is not even an adult on the North American continent is announced as one of the 50 strongest in the NBA when he has not yet started an official match, it can make some people jealous. It pushes its competitors to challenge. “He is No. 1 in the draft. Obviously he has a target on his back. All the others will try to measure themselves against him to show what their level is.“, summarizes Kevin Garnett. We can expect Wembanyama to be targeted. The teams will prepare to face him. There will be schemes specially put in place to make his life as difficult as possible. The opponents more smaller and more mobile players will seek to make him play out wide – this is already what happened during the pre-season – in defense, in the hope of overtaking him. He is mobile enough to get by and above all long enough to possibly counter the attacker from behind after being passed. But there will be times when he will be beaten.

Same thing on attack. There will undoubtedly be a desire to play physical, to play rough and even to push him around. The Spurs have a young team without a real veteran who is supposed to stick together to “defend” it. Zach Collins should stick with it. But all of this will aim to disrupt Wembanyama and take him out of his comfort zone. In any case, with his particular game, he too will have to look for and find his favorite spots.

He’s a big guy who plays differently. Kevin Durant’s influence is palpable. Victor Wembanyama likes to mount the ball, attack with dribbles, shoot over everyone. These are complicated positions. So far, he has put several and it creates sensational images. But there will inevitably be waste. Clumsiness. LeBron James had a 41% success rate during his first season in the league. 43% for KD. Even Joel Embiid, an interior player, “only” converted 46% of his attempts. It’s normal. Young stars often lack efficiency at first, while they master their powers. It is precisely once they get into the rhythm of the game that they begin to be more and more successful and therefore to take a serious step forward.