For eight months, he had been seen in a Shaolin temple, during training with Kevin Garnett or playing chess at Chesnay. Last night, for his return to the NBA courts, we also only saw him. Victor Wembanyama lit up everything and led the San Antonio Spurs to a prestigious victory, at neighboring Dallas which claims to fight for the title (125-92). Eight months after his venous thrombosis in his shoulder which made him fear the end of his career, the French prodigy seems determined to destroy everything this season.
“I’ve had a lot of difficulties lately, and I’ve worked a lot to get back to the highest level,” he declared after the meeting. But all this is paying off. All dreams are allowed to us. »
40 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks: the numbers show quite well what Wemby’s domination of the match was. Total. He flew head and shoulders above the debates. Dunks, blocks and an incredible impression of ease: Victor Wembanyama was unplayable and Dallas was never able to find a semblance of a solution. The Frenchman also distinguished himself by not losing… a single ball, one of his guilty pleasures since his debut in the NBA.
Nobody could stop him
Opposite, the number from the last Draft, Cooper Flagg, who is nevertheless announced as a huge future player, appeared very small against the Frenchman. It is certainly unfair to compare a rookie playing his first NBA game to Victor Wembanyama who is starting to take the measure of the American championship. But at half-time, Wemby already had more than 20 points on the clock. The Spurs, for their part, gradually took off to lead up to 30 points in the final minutes.
Neither another promising prospect, Derek Lively, nor a basketball player as experienced as Anthony Davis, could prevent Wemby from shining brightly in his return to the court.
His first match confirmed what we had glimpsed in preparation: Victor Wembanyama closer to the basket, less adventurous in his attempts from distance. He posted a success rate of 71% (15 out of 21), and only attempted… two three-point shots (1 success).
From the start, he sets the tone: a mid-distance shot which shows his progress in the exercise, one of his faults last year. Then he intervenes against Anthony Davis with a masterful counter. From the first minutes, the tone is set!
We then see him go and dunk on his own like a big guy. “A tomahawk,” says the ESPN commentator, in reference to long-range missiles deemed unstoppable. He plays a clever two-man ballet with Harper, succeeds in an alley-oop on a pass from Castle, and scores from close range, gently, against Davis. Unplayable we tell you!
The rest is of the same ilk: he fakes a shot against Washington and goes for a reverse dunk, and continues to dissuade opposing attackers from attacking his team’s circle. Then he scores a basket behind the circle, foul to boot. His coach even took him out four minutes from the end, job well done.
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