After a huge first game against Team Ignite, Victor Wembanyama reinforced his status as a very big favorite to be chosen in first position in the next draft. If the NBA leaders already knew him very well, they certainly took his eyes off it and some even advised the Wembanyama camp to end his season, the first place in the draft being almost already assured. Because apart from an injury, it is hard to see what would prevent the Frenchman from being called up first by Adam Silver.
But there is no question of taking this direction as confided Bouna Ndiaye at ESPN.
“People in the NBA are telling me to end his season, and we’re not going to do that,” the agent said. “If we go see him with this speech, he’s going to look at us and say, ‘what are you talking about?’ He will never agree to that. He wants competition and progress. With Victor, basketball comes first, and everything else is secondary. He was really unhappy to have lost. »
Considered a prospect with a profile never seen in history, this kind of performance should launch a mad dash for tanking.
“Victor distorts the reality of basketball,” a GM told ESPN. “The tanking/transfer market is really going to change after this demonstration. It looks like yesterday’s game will launch a race down the rankings like we’ve never seen. »
The choice to oppose Victor to Scoot Henderson, his main rival for the draft could have turned against the Frenchman if he had completely missed his match, but there was no question of refusing such a challenge and such exposure.
“We came to expose Victor to everyone and teach him what the next 15 years of his life will be like in terms of managing the expectations and care for him,” Ndiaye said. “We came to learn. We want him to be the best he can be. The next one, he may have a hard time. He must learn to be regular. Repeat scales, improve, learn. »
Via ESPN
