Away from the courts for a month, the Frenchman should make his return in the semi-final of the NBA Cup on Saturday against league leader Oklahoma City.
Victor Wembanyama, a month after his last match for the San Antonio Spurs, is eagerly awaited on Saturday in Las Vegas in the NBA Cup semi-final against the frightening Oklahoma City Thunder, who are crushing the start of the season. Hit in the left calf on November 14 against the Golden State Warriors, Wembanyama (21) has not played since, missing 12 matches after shining in the first 12 matches of the 2025-2026 financial year. Without him, the Spurs did better than resist (9 wins – 3 losses), proof of the progress of this team after six seasons without play-offs, which is now in 5th place in the West (17-7), close to second Denver (18-6).
On Wednesday, the Texans and their whirlwind trio of point guards De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper managed to win on the floor of the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the quarter-finals of the NBA Cup, a tournament at the heart of the regular season created three years ago and of which the Lakers were the first winners. Active in the warm-up after an intense training session in the morning, Wembanyama attended the match from the bench, under the eyes of his father and the manager of the French team Boris Diaw.
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After the match, “Wemby” strolled all smiles in the corridors of the Crypto.com Arena, carrying in his hand a book from the cycle “Sons-of-the-mists” by the American Brandon Sanderson, prolific author of fantasy, a genre that the French interior loves. In “Sons-of-the-mists”a band of revolutionary outlaws use magical powers to try to overthrow a dictatorial regime. A metaphor which evokes the mission awaiting the Spurs against the Thunder in the T-Mobile Arena, Saturday at 6 p.m. local time (3 a.m. Sunday morning Paris time).
16 victories in a row for the Thunder, and soon a record?
Crowned champion in the spring, Oklahoma City has crushed the NBA since the restart with 24 wins for a single defeat (in Portland on November 5), the best record in history after 25 matches, tied with the Warriors of 2015-2016, then on the road to the regular season record (73-9). Relentless defending machine, the Thunder, which remains on 16 successes in a row, was able to do without a major player (Jalen Williams) for five weeks. Its margin is such that its MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.6 pts on average in 32.8 minutes) remains on the bench during the 4th quarter, one game out of two. On Wednesday, OKC scattered Phoenix 138-89, the worst defeat in Suns history.
For their part, the Spurs have found alchemy under the orders of Mitch Johnson, around All-Star leader De’Aaron Fox, who arrived in February but injured at the end of last season, who fills the absence of Wembanyama in leadership and points. Alongside him, rookie Dylan Harper, and experienced rookies Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk helped to thicken the squad. Qualification for Las Vegas is “Important for our group, it proves to the rest of the NBA that we are legitimate, even if we are young and we are still putting the pieces of the puzzle together. We’re going there to make noise”warned Keldon Johnson on Wednesday, who has become a perfect dynamiter coming off the bench.
If Spurs found the right fuel with a fast pace without Wembanayma, Fox assured that the current speed would still be in place with the French giant (2.24 m). Wembanyama “will add to the offensive dynamic”wanted to reassure the former Sacramento man. The winner will earn a place in the final, played Tuesday in Las Vegas, against the New York Knicks or the Orlando Magic, who will face each other earlier in the day. With the key, for each titled player, a bonus of some 530,000 dollars promised by the NBA.
