At the foot of the Nuage towers in the Pablo-Picasso district of Nanterre, the future pivot of the Blues Victor Wembanyama made an appearance this Saturday afternoon, with his friend, ex (with the Mets) and future (in blue) teammate Bilal Coulibaly, as well as Dominique Malonga, in the women’s group of the French team for the Paris Olympics.
A few days before his return to the USA to complete his preparation before the Blues’ gathering at INSEP on June 17, the Spurs pivot trained every evening from midnight to 2 a.m. to replicate San’s time difference. Antonio and optimize his recovery upon his return to Texas.
It was his sponsor, Nike, who financed the “Victory Mode” operation, inaugurated with Kylian Mbappé eight days ago, which saw Wembanyama, in the city where he grew up as a basketball player from 10 to 17 years old, s offer crowd baths with 1,500 to 2,000 children and adolescents present in the André-Malraux park, trying out several sports workshops with them – football, tennis, and of course basketball – or playing coaches for the finals of a 3×3 tournament.
On the press side, the rookie of the year presented, with Coulibaly and Malonga, the new Blues jersey for the upcoming competition, and gave some impressions of the summer. Not far from there, at the Palais des Sports Maurice-Thorez, his favorite club where he trained, Nanterre, extended the suspense in the quarter-finals of Betclic Elite by scoring a great victory against Bourg (90-84).
Patience and responsibilities
“It’s nice to see the energy that emerges around basketball, around sport. Knowing that I’m helping to create a buzz like that is very rewarding, he explained. My current program is organized around my training until the meeting with the Blues. I have dreamed of experiencing the Olympics for a very long time.
I am happy to be part of the shortlisted list (smile), it will be an honor to share the field with those who have already experienced this. For my part, there were discussions very early on with Vincent (Collet, the coach) not to start working during the internship. We all have ambition in terms of results and game plan. We know that we will evolve with a team profile different from anything that the France team has experienced in the past. We will have to innovate. Vincent knows it. On the other hand, I did not participate in the construction of the team or the tactical plan.
What if I have a new boss status? I don’t think that’s my label. The role I will play inspires me… patience. I arrive to learn from some who are among the best players in the history of the Blues. I’m not here to explain how to do it to those who have five, six, seven international campaigns under their belts. I have no doubt that I will have responsibilities, but they will be realistic, I will be given as many as necessary. »
