Feeling a draft: Victor Wembanyama looking forward to joining NBA’s San Antonio Spurs
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San Antonio definitely need Victor Wembanyama, who stands at 2.24 metres.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – Victor Wembanyama has known where he will be playing professional basketball since the moment the San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery in May.
And the 19-year-old French phenom cannot wait to officially become a member of the Spurs, who intend to open the draft by using the No. 1 pick on Wembanyama on Thursday night (Friday, Singapore time) in New York.
“For me, San Antonio are synonymous with winning,” he said at Wednesday’s pre-draft press conference.
“On lottery night, when the Spurs got the No. 1 pick, I was just thinking... I was feeling lucky that they had the pick as a franchise that has that culture and that experience in winning and making, creating good players. So I really can’t wait.”
The Spurs have won five National Basketball Association (NBA) titles under coach Gregg Popovich and have previously hit the No. 1 overall draft pick jackpot twice with the selections of David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
Both players are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as is Popovich.
Another appeal to Wembanyama is that French players Tony Parker and Boris Diaw had successful stints with the Spurs.
San Antonio definitely need Wembanyama, who stands at 2.24 metres. The Spurs missed the play-offs in each of the past four seasons and were a woeful 22-60 last campaign. San Antonio have lost more games on just two occasions.
Call it amazing timing to grab Wembanyama, the most hyped draft pick to enter the league since LeBron James in 2003.
He is not the least bit rattled by all the fuss about him leaving France to play in the world’s top basketball league.
“I don’t let all this stuff get into my head because I got such high expectations for myself that I’m immune to all this stuff,” Wembanyama said. “So I really don’t care.”
Part of what makes him so intriguing is the fact that he is not your typical seven-foot-plus player.
Wembanyama likes to bring the ball up court and fire three-pointers. He does not mind getting physical in the interior but he prides himself on his all-round skillset.
“No one is going to stop me from dribbling the ball, bringing the ball up and shooting threes,” he said.
“Nobody is going to stop me from doing that. Even though sometimes coaches in my career would try to stop me from doing that because they had to win right now.
“So it was really an everyday fight to stay true to myself, and, yeah, this is something that I’m never going to lose, for sure.”
However, Wembanyama made just 27.1 per cent of his three-point attempts in 44 games for Boulogne-Levallois this season in France. He made a sizzling 75.1 per cent of his two-point attempts to shoot 55.2 per cent overall.
He averaged 20.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocked shots and 2.5 assists this season for the Metropolitans 92.
Meanwhile, the French teenager also confirmed that he plans to make his first appearance in a Spurs uniform during the NBA’s Summer League pre-season events.
“I’m going to be playing the Summer League,” he said.
It is not clear whether Wembanyama will play in the Summer League games in Sacramento, starting on July 3, or the Las Vegas tournament from July 7 to 17.
He also said he hoped to play for France in the World Cup taking place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from Aug 25 to Sept 10.
“There’s time between the Summer League and the World Cup,” Wembanyama said. “It’s still my plan to make the World Cup. I’m waiting to agree with my franchise.” REUTERS, AFP
