A new edition of the NBA Draft will be held on June 22. This event brings together the best promises in world basketball, who are called to receive the baton from players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry. The most coveted prospect for the big franchises is Victor Wembanyama, a French ‘giant’, barely 19 years old.
Wembanyama, 2.21 meters tall, is the sensation in the French league. He plays for the Parisian club Mets92 and every game sells out to see him. The power forward with Congolese roots is compared to Kylian Mbappé, as his shirts are sold at the same price as those of the PSG star.
“An alien”as defined by LeBron James, or “a player taken from a video game”According to Stephen Curry, ‘Wemby’ causes a furore every Friday that Metropolitans 92 plays on the small Marcel Cerdan court in Levallois (outskirts of Paris), where since the end of 2022 the “no tickets” sign has been hung (2,800 spectators). .
Everything to see the last games in France of the power forward of Congolese origin born in Le Chesnay (Parisian outskirts) and destined to make history in the NBA.
“In each game we sell about 60 shirts, the majority of Wemby, before his arrival (2022), there were less than 10,” one of the employees of the store located inside the pavilion, shortly before the Metropolitans-Roanne of the Friday, January 27, of the French Basketball League.
/AFP
Before matches and at breaks, queues of fans, tourists or curious people form in search of the number 1 of Wembanyama. They are able to pay up to 85 euros for this shirt, a price similar to that paid for the official PSG jacket with the name of Mbappé (about 107 euros).
“It is true that there is a lot of money in sport, I paid 130 euros for LeBron’s jersey. I buy this one from Wemby because of its origins. As a Frenchman, we want him to become an incredible player in the NBA, we hope so. And we can say : ‘We watched a match of him'”, proudly declares the fan Laurent Cozic.
The transfer in the run-up to the matches is remarkable. The magnet exerted by Wemby crosses generations. There are parents with their minor children, adolescents or forties who were marked in the 90s by Michael Jordan’s Bulls.
And also a good contingent of foreigners, some tourists, such as a young Italian who bought the desired number 1 shortly before the start of the match.
In addition to the typical hot dogs with a lot of ketchup, one of the main attractions at Miguel Cerdan is a reproduction of Wembanyama, hung as soon as you enter the pavilion. This almost life-size image is an almost obligatory stop to take photos.
The journalists are also legion, about 50 in each game played in Levallois, many of them foreigners. When Wemby takes the field, it’s the apotheosis. And when he starts the match -for which the most expensive tickets are priced at 150 euros- he does not disappoint.
Against Roanne, he takes 30 seconds to score, scores a three-pointer on his first attempt, scores his first two free kicks, blocks and rebounds, all in less than five minutes and accompanied by coordination and agility that is unusual for someone who surpasses the 2.20 meters.
Although the Mets ended up giving up that game (84-102), Wemby finished as the best scorer with 31 points.
THE NBA PURCHASED THE RIGHTS TO WEMBY’S GAMES
Last October, shortly after Wembanyama wowed the United States with a series of exhibition games in Las Vegas, the NBA reached an agreement to broadcast, through a free streaming application, the games of the Mets92 in the French League (LNB) for the remainder of the season.
The amount of this singular transfer was not disclosed, although the French press assures that the NBA paid the LNB some 133,000 euros.
The management of Mets92 claimed a percentage of that value, but without success. The French League argued that it had no legal obligation to provide clubs with a portion of the television rights from abroad.
Meanwhile, the player tries to stay apart from all the hustle and bustle it creates. His media interventions are very measured. In one of the few exclusive interviews he’s given, Wemby made a confession. In 2018 he did not sign for Barcelona because the coaches of the Blaugrana club did not call his attention to his defects.
“I love to progress and I need to face challenges, I like to be told things clearly, even if that is unpleasant to listen to,” he explained to ‘Le Parisien’ last December.
