“The alien” Victor Wembanyama, a giant who left Kylian Mbappé “little” and drove Manu Ginóbili crazy

“Amazing news! Let’s enjoy”. The message via social networks of Manu Ginobili eloquently marked his euphoria. In the NBA Draft lottery, his team of a lifetime, san antonio spurs, he got the endorsement to take number 1. To one of the players of the moment. Nothing less than French Victor Wembanyama, for some, “The French Unicorn”. A boy of 19 years and 2.24m tall. Physical wonder and winner of numerous awards in the league of his country. The moment dreamed of by all those who ever imagined playing elite basketball has arrived for him.

Ginóbili followed the ceremony from San Antonio. Expectant. While Wembanyama did it from Paris, accompanied by family, friends and well-known personalities, including no less than Kylian MbappePSG figure and world champion in Russia 2018, in addition to the runner-up in Qatar 2022. The Draft will take place on June 22. and there the Spurs will have the right to recruit the French giant. A player whom LeBron James himself came to describe as an “alien”

For Wembanyama a special instance in his career arrives, since he will play in the franchise for which they spent the Admiral David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili and his compatriot Tony Parker, among other figures. And like them, he will be led by a glory like Gregg Popovich.

A capital surprise they took away the special guests when they saw the meeting between Wembanyama and Mbappé. It is that the PSG crack is not short by any means: he has a respectable 1.78m that allows him to win physical wrestling within the area. But as they approached Wembanyama, the great differences between them were exposed. The video quickly went viral. And it was funny to watch the French striker look up as he engaged in dialogue with “The Unicorn.”

Mbappé already knew Wembanyama as he attended the final match of the regular season of the French league that Wembanyama played with Metropolitans 92who beat Paris 93-85, with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists for the center, whose team entered the playoffs as second place.

Wemby, the nickname by which Wembanyama is known, will be one of the shining faces of French sport for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And although in different positions, he is a worthy heir to Tony Parker, the Frenchman who has left his mark in the NBA.

“My heart is beating, it is a very special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life”, declared Wembanyama upon learning the result of the NBA Draft lottery. “I will give everything to win as many games as possible, I will be prepared. I will try to win a ring as soon as possible, ”he said in statements collected by the EFE agency.

The crossing of Mbappé with the Giant

However, What is the story of this French basketball player with a great future? In Le Chesnay, France, Elodie de Fautereau and Felix Wembanyama became parents for the second time and the family’s joy was complete. “Little Victor” had arrived. They all wanted the child to be happy and the way they understood that he should develop was through sports. It is that they are all part of that universe. Elodie was a basketball player and Felix was an athlete. Even her first daughter, Eve, had also gotten into hoops, triples and dribbling. Therefore, the new member was not going to have another destination.

The couple raised their son in an extremely relaxed environment, encouraging him to participate in different activities. During his growing up experience, he used to be a soccer goalie and also practiced judo. When he was five years old, his mother began guiding him into the world of basketball and from there everything changed. At the age of 10, he already impressed everyone, because he was 1.80 meters tall. and he moved around the field with the naturalness of a much smaller child.

Eve, Victor’s older sister, also an experienced basketball player who won a gold medal with France at the 2017 FIBA ​​European Under-16 Championship for Women in France, finished forming the character of the little boy who was causing a furor in Europe and setting off alarm bells. in the U.S. It is that the child began to show the world that her talent was so extraordinary that she could not be described with common phrases for those players who appear from time to time. Victor was already too small “he is a unicorn”. That is why LeBron James himself was encouraged to describe him as “an alien”.

Victor Wembanyama became the 18-year-old French prodigy with a height of 2.20 meters and a 2.31 wingspan, wowed NBA scouts playing for Metropolitans 92, in the United States, against Ignite of the G League. In his first game he dispatched 37 points (4 of 9 on 2-point shots and 7 of 11 triples), 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 5 blocks in 37 minutes, in the second he scored 36 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 plugs.

Even Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, acknowledged a few months ago that “Wembanyama has all the attributes to be a real game changer… I know many of our NBA teams are salivating at the thought that potentially, at Through the Draft, they could get it, so everyone should compete very hard next season. As it is.

Its impact is so great that Stephen Curry compared to Wembanyama with a player created to play NBA 2K. Giannis Antetokounmpo also weighed in, saying: “He’s an incredible player. I think in 2045, everyone will look like Victor. The way he can shoot, the way he can move, he is extremely fast for his size, he can block shots, he’s amazing. You have a chance to be one of the best in this game. We had never seen anything like it before. We have to prepare for this guy, he’s going to be really good.”

This boy, without playing in the NBA or the Euroleague, was already the center of attention of the basketball universe. To such an extent that some franchises did not rule out the possibility of “tanking” in the season to be able to keep him. The decision of a team to lose on purpose to obtain the worst possible result in the classification in order to have more options to achieve a high number in the Draft and select a future star is called ‘tanking’. The three worst teams of the season in the NBA had a 27% probability that they would win the number 1 in the Draft. And there were the Spurs of Pop. Ready to start enjoying the French Unicorn.

THE NATION