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Victor Wembanyama, always faster, higher, stronger

Probable future N.1 of the draft, the Boulogne-Levallois prodigy has scored at least 30 points in three consecutive games and panics the counters of the French championship.

Three consecutive games at 30 points or more. Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry would say,facile !“. But Victor Wembanyama does not evolve in the NBA, does not have the same pedigree and especially not the same age (18 years old). It was in the French championship, the Betclic Elite, that the young hopeful from Boulogne-Levallois achieved this feat, against Limoges, Nanterre and Nancy.

Unheard of for a French player since the creation of the National Basketball League (LNB) in 1987. Never seen at all since 2007 and the Nigerian Derrick Obasohan with Hyères-Toulon, according to the statistics site Proballers. One more game over 30 points and “Wemby” would accomplish what no one has done since American Mike Jones in 1994 with Cholet. The longest series belongs to Forrest McKenzie, also American, with seven consecutive matches in 1990 under the jersey of Gravelines. For how much longer ?

“Wemby” trivializes the extraordinary

The probable future N.1 of the draft is on a cloud. His domination of the championship is outrageous. Just look at the statistics. Wemby, Wemby and again Wemby… The Frenchman leads four major categories: best scorer (23.2), best blocker (3.0), best rebounder (9.6), and first in evaluation (26.4). Never in history has a player finished the season leading in four categories. But if he manages to keep his current rhythm, the Mets’ power forward could well trivialize the extraordinary. The team has also found that he was ahead of his illustrious French predecessors who left for the NBA. Nicolas Batum, Tony Parker, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier were between 7 and 14.7 points per game for their last season in France before joining the United States. Victor Wembanyama is currently on an average of 23.2!

Beyond the stats, the kid impresses with his maturity. Three-point ease, dominance in the racket, speed, dexterity, skill, balance on one leg or two… His panoply is complete. The Metropolitans can also count on his ability to tighten the game in hot moments. Evidenced by his high-flying fourth quarter against Nancy, while the Lorraine had returned to height (66-66). All of this, need we remind you, at only 18 years old.

A collective success

Victor Wembanyama is not the kind of star to shine for himself. His aura shone on the collective. Under his leadership, Boulogne-Levallois is the leader of Betlic Elite, with eight consecutive victories. And the arrival of such a player in the landscape is also very good news for the France team. In mid-November, the men of Vincent Collet, coach of the Blues but also coach of “Wemby” at the Mets, validated their ticket for the 2023 World Cup after a big victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina (92-56). For his first in Blue on French soil, the young prodigy had scored “only” 19 points. But there is no doubt that he will mark many others.

While waiting to fly across the Atlantic where, we hope, a long career awaits him in the NBA, Wembanyama continues to grow warm in France. The Metropolitans want to take advantage of every second spent by the phenomenon on the floors, including the financial fallout. The club’s management has officially asked the LNB that a portion of the amount paid by the NBA to broadcast the matches in the United States be donated to the clubs. When you have such an asset, it would be a shame not to value it.

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