The madness of his grandeur. Victor Wembanyama has finished his first season in the NBA, those of all expectations following his status as the first Frenchman selected as the number 1 choice in the draft, the annual selection of the best prospects on the basketball planet.
Wembanyama did better than respond, at the end of an exercise rich in highlights and experiences. From the excitement of its beginnings to the final weeks in apotheosis, a look back at a year which took it from a curiosity to follow to an unmissable phenomenon across the Atlantic.
Madness and flashes
Comet “Wemby” had already crashed the French championship last year, winning all the individual awards and bringing the Metropolitans of Boulogne-Levallois to the final of the Betclic Elite. However, this was nothing compared to what would await him in San Antonio from June 22, the date on which the Spurs officially chose him. In the Texan city, the Tricolor is expected as the messiah, a bearer of hopes as disproportionate as its wingspan of 2.43m.
Large format: Wembamania This week’s Large format “La Wembamania” takes you to San Antonio alongside Victor Wembanyama, the 19-year-old French basketball player, who has become the new icon of the NBA.
His first pre-season match, usually quite confidential meetings, was a full house. His first evening in the big world attracts all the attention. Against Dallas on October 25, Victor Wembanyama spent most of his match hampered by mistakes, before revealing a concentration of his talent in the last quarter. The sample is short, so is the time needed to confirm the quality.
The first heatwave in Phoenix
Wembanyama only needs five games to amaze. His extraordinary physique and his game far from the stereotypes of players of his size had made him a curiosity. His match with the Phoenix Suns, one of the favorites for the title this season, made him a sensation. Against the team of his idol Kevin Durant, he scored 38 points, accompanied by 10 rebounds and a decisive end to the match to snatch the victory. “I don’t see anyone like him NBADurant then enthused. It is unique. He will create his own story.“
“This is when all of America realizes that the kid is going to make them sweat for 15 yearsrecalls with a smile Théo Quintard, a French journalist based in San Antonio who followed the French international’s season. As he is not American, there was always a kind of reluctance, especially from the major television channels which broadcast the matches. They weren’t even sure what to call it.“
We will no longer mention the Suns commentator, who named Victor Wembanyana several times during the meeting. “Wemby” made a name and a reputation for itself. “It was a bit of a birth certificate in the NBA, believes Théo Quintard. He saw things differently and replied: ‘Maybe if I stay at this level of performance, we can consider this as the beginning of a birth certificate.’“
The numbers say a lot about the scope of his feat: no player in his first season had compiled as many points, rebounds and blocks in his first five outings since the legend Shaquille O’Neal, 32 years old. earlier.
The clicks and slaps
In the wake of their new star, the Spurs have had a surprising start to the season with three victories in five games. Return to earth between early November and mid-December is brutal, especially for Victor Wembanyama. A fierce competitor at heart and accustomed to playing for successful teams, he discovered mediocrity.
Nothing surprising for San Antonio, who was able to get their hands on the Frenchman thanks to his poor results the previous season. The interior absorbs the blow and the prudence of its training, very careful of its jewel. “I’ve never been so hungry for victory and competition, but I’ve learned to overcome the frustration of minute limitations“, assures Wembanyama at a press conference on January 7.
The Spurs have a series of 18 consecutive losses. Wembanyama overcomes his tension by stringing together brilliant performances, between actions that panic social networks and records of precocity. “When he says ‘I have the responsibility for the fans and the franchise’, Victor Wembanyama is 2000% convinced of what he says, and he does itassures Théo Quintard. Marking history enlivens it.“
The saving change of position
Performing but losing, Victor Wembanyama saw a turning point in his discovery of the NBA on December 8. That evening, against the Chicago Bulls, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich attempted a coup by shifting his protégé from the power forward position to the more central pivot position.
Victor Wembanyama still has frail shoulders compared to some of the league’s behemoths at this position. But, closer to the basket, his ability to defend the circle with his size and to attract defenses to free his teammates in attack works wonders.
For his first in this new role, he scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, becoming the youngest player in history to sign such a statistical line, at 19 years and 338 days old. All his individual figures progress in the wake of this benchmark match.
And San Antonio finally puts an end to its spiral of defeats a few days later, against the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James himself. “We all love this feeling of victory, we will work like crazy to relive thatexclaims the Frenchman in a post-match press conference. It’s what I’m addicted to, what I love most, and what I live for.“
The new dimension
Spurs’ collective performances and results are still uneven. But Victor Wembanyama is launched for good. First compared with another “rookie” player (in his first professional season), the American Chet Holmgren, the native of Chesnay (Yvelines) ends up establishing himself in a class of his own in 2024 to definitively put his rival in the rearview mirror.
“He learns extremely quickly, he is one step ahead of everyone. Even Gregg Popovich has said several times that he exceeded his expectations. The curve that Victor has in 2024 is incredible“, summarizes Théo Quintard.
Wembanyama is one of the main attractions of the All-Star Game weekend in February, a mid-season high mass for both sport and esteem. He is no longer just a great hope, he is a star in his own right.
The ticking of the Games: Wembanyama madness For several years, the basketball world has been in turmoil at the emergence of a prodigy. Victor Wembanyama. Nicknamed “Wemby”, this young French player quickly became an emblematic figure of the sport, sparking enthusiasm and giving birth to what fans now call “Wembymania”. We went to measure the popularity of the French basketball player during an NBA match in New York. NBA Images/Getty Images
At the end of January, his jersey was the fourth best-selling in the United States. And that’s just the beginning, as his limit of 24 minutes per game ends up being lifted. He signed a crazy triple-double – three statistical categories with ten units or more – on February 12 with ten blocks in Toronto, which only three players in the annals of the NBA had managed to do in their first season.
Two weeks later, on February 23, he was the 16th player in history but also the youngest to achieve a five-by-five (five units in five statistical categories): 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals against the Lakers.
“This kid is SPECIAL“, hallucine LeBron James. “It becomes difficult to detach yourself from the subject as a journalist, to know where you set the bar on what is a good or bad match. It progresses so quickly that the demands against it follow the same curve, explains Théo Quintard. It’s hard to humanize him.“Its equipment supplier Nike is riding the wave, with a personalized brand and an alien face logo as LeBron James nicknamed him in October 2022.
The boss size
The last possible skeptics are won over. We are no longer just talking about Victor Wembanyama being the best rookie of the year, but outright for the title of defender of the season, which no rookie has ever achieved.
The Spurs only amassed around twenty victories in 82 games, but they began their reconstruction with Wembanyama as a pillar. “I’m happy with the way it went, with the management of my body. We tried to be careful as much as possible. I would have liked to play 82 matches but it’s my first season, looking back It’s quite satisfying.”summarizes the Frenchman.
“It changed the face of the entire city beyond the Spurs. Victor Wembanyama’s aura goes beyond the sporting framework, he is already more than a basketball player. He gave people hope.”
Théo Quintard, correspondent in San Antonio
at franceinfo: sport
The support is total for the player as much as for the character Wembanyama, almost disconcertingly calm when everything around him is only frenzy towards him. “We went from potential to wondering if he is in the 20, 15, or even 10 best NBA players”summarizes Théo Quintard.
The end of the season saw him pile up new cards, the most memorable against New York (40 points and 20 rebounds), a victory as a bonus and a sign of his team’s progress. Earning more will now be the next chapter that Victor Wembanyama will look to write. “I don’t want our next season to end so soon. I want to go to the playoffs. We have so many details to improve. We’re going to add a new brick every day, to finally have our house”he concludes.
2024-04-15 19:23:04
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