Victor Wembanyamathat unicorn of 2.24 to whom the future belongs, the total player par excellence, played one day for Barça. A time at the Barça club was short-lived but true.
It all goes back to 2018, when the current San Antonio Spurs star played the Mini Cup with FC Barcelona with 14 years old. Wemby appeared on the Catalan club’s radar in a conversation between a Barça employee and a German youth coach when the Frenchman was not even 13 years old.
In the Barça entity they simply fell in love with Wembanyama as he explained to MD in 2023 Ruben Alcarazhead of scouting for FC Barcelona between 2016 and 2025 and now international scout for the Clippers.
“When you saw him on video, you thought he was very, very good. But then in person he was wow! I think he is the only player of that age that I have seen with NBA potential,” Alcaraz told Guille Álvarez.
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Barça player for a week
Of the flesh
Carlos Flores He was the coach who had the privilege of directing him in that Mini Cup.
“When we entered the pavilion, everyone realized his potential, the player we had before us,” the coach recalled.
Victor Wembanyama excelled in the consolation final against Joventut with 16 points, 15 rebounds and a PIR of 32 and now it was time to tie him up. The French prodigy and Barça were about to close an agreement that did not come to fruition and Wemby decided to continue with his development in the Nanterre 92 French.
In 2021 The Catalan club tried again to sign him in negotiations with their representatives, but the center ended up signing with the ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne from Tony Parker to play for the Metropolitans ’92 before being chosen number 1 in the NBA draft in 2023 by the Spurs.
Apparently, FC Barcelona would have been much closer to signing Wemby just when the team finished its participation in the Mini Cup. The one who many consider the heir of LeBron James He did not want to stay at Barça, but it is worth asking why he rejected the offer with the prestige, history and development system that the Catalan club has.
According to the player’s own version, supported by people close to him, Victor Wembanyama missed that the Barça team demanded more of him: “That was one of the reasons, but there were others. I love progressing and I need to face challenges, I like that they tell me things clearly, even if that is unpleasant to hear,” the Frenchman told The Parisian.
Bryan GeorgeWemby’s coach in the lower categories of Nanterre 92, and the ASVEL and the French team as an assistant, corroborated the center’s version to MD.
“Victor said that he didn’t like the Barça experience because everyone told him that everything he did was good. He told me that he liked that someone chillara Like I did, someone told him the truth so he could improve. 95% of young players like to be told they do everything well, but that doesn’t work with Victor. It’s not normal, but at that age I already understood that, if you want to improve, you need to be trained and be told when something is wrong even if it’s not easy or comfortable,” George argued just before the 2023 draft.
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Wemby, on his pumpkins to Barça
“I need to face challenges”
Another person very close to Wembanyama, almost like a father to the player, is Frédéric Donnadieupresident of Nanterre 92 and first coach of the phenomenon in the French club. Donnadieu spoke of another reason why Wemby did not like his experience at FC Barcelona.
“He didn’t like at all that they made him play alone under the hoop. Precisely what we did at Nanterre 92 was to give him freedom to exploit his technique and it is something that he talked about with his father, who was bored with the role they had given him,” argued Donnadieu.
“It was an honor that a club like Barça was interested in Victor, but it was also an honor that he decided to stay at Nanterre 92 and not leave. At no time did we doubt the quality as a Barça training center, but at Nanterre 92 we had many people to work on Victor’s qualities and improve them with direct and personalized training. In each training session he had a person assigned just for him to improve his technique,” also explained the person who is still one of the closest people to Wembanyama.
Carlos Flores He defended that the Barça club did not reach that level of demand that the current Spurs star wanted.
“I think it stops to put pressure on a player, especially a child of 14 years old, You must have a certain trust with him so as not to make mistakes, reproach him for certain negative things and not go against the work they are doing in their club and environment. We were as correct as possible with Victor so that his stay here was as good as possible and he could enjoy himself like the child he was at that time,” Flores justified.
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Although Wembanyama was very critical With his time at Barça, the unicorn spoke wonders of the Catalan club on the last occasion he referred to his experience as a Barça player.
“First of all, Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. As for basketball, I remember very well, it was a long time ago, I made great memories with some fantastic and fun guys,” the star told MD in his season of rookie.
“What impressed me at that moment is that everyone was really talented, not only on our team, but also most of the big names in the Spanish league. I had simply never seen so much talent in a youth competition at that time. It was fantastic,” Wemby added about his experience in a Mini Cup in which promising players such as Rafa Villar, Jordi Rodríguez and Juan NunezMVP of the competition with Real Madrid and now at Barça.
Victor Wembanyama passed through FC Barcelona as shooting star and the Barça club’s desire to sign him was never fulfilled. At least, despite the criticism, he had good memories of Barça. Can you imagine if Wemby would have stayed?
