ANDhe future is here. Victor Wembanyama (Nanterre, 2004), the most anticipated talent in basketball history since LeBron James, is the number 1 in the NBA Draft. The San Antonio Spurs chose the Frenchman, no surprise. They introduce the world to the impossible physique gamer. Two meters and 30 centimeters. of 100 kilos. And grassroots movements. He is the alien. And it’s already yours.
Dressed in green because he stated that “it’s a different color. It reminds of an alien” and with a precious stone hanging around his neck since “it appeared in his dreams” and he decided to ask for it, Wembanyama was the first to take the podium at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The comparison, as is well known, is that of a potential Kevin Durant. And, in fact, ‘Wemby’ dreams of measuring himself with him. “He is the one I most want to measure myself with,” he recounted the morning before the election. The kid from the marginal area of the Isle-de-France, Paris, out for the world. He has everything.
There were no doubts. Wembanyama closed his circle of preparation. The one with the physical prodigy, that at 2’23 meters from him they make him the eighth longest measured player in history (after Mark Eaton, Shawn Bradley, Rik Smits, Manute Bol, Yao Ming, Ralph Sampson and Manute Bol), 2.43 meters in wingspan, the most in the NBA, and more than 100 kilos in weight and 55 as foot size. Also the path of a career given step by step. He tried out with Barça in the 2015 Mini Cup, but he loved Nanterre, his home. “Fidelity made him not leave. He always chooses with his heart,” says Bryan Georges, his 15-year-old coach.
From there, going through the Metropolitans 92, to the NBA and the Spurs. As they say in France, he is programmed to reign. “We did a specific program so that he wouldn’t get injured. Three years of preparation of the body to reach the maximum”, remarked Bouna Ndiaye, his representative. So the San Antonio Spurs didn’t fail. It is his selection.
Robinson, Duncan… and Wembanyama
The third all-time first-round pick by the San Antonio Spurs. First it was David Robinson. After Tim Duncan. The third is Victor Wembanyama, the ultimate player. “It’s like the 2k,” Stephen Curry came to tell. Because from his physical parameters he is a shot generator, a magnificent defender and he has no problems shooting. Arrives to reign “I want to be the best, on and off the pitch,” added the Frenchman.
No doubt, he’s coming for the spotlights. The Spurs know it. A mythical franchise, with a better work culture under its eternal Gregg Popovich at the helm. But it comes depressed, 22 wins and 60 losses. Wembanyama has to lift it. In sports, because he has no comparison. And economically, since there are studies that say that any destination the Frenchman lands at will increase its value by 500 million. It is a worldwide phenomenon.
Wembanyama says goodbye to France with plays like this
“I want to win”
Star without a minute of play. But he did not hesitate to get excited. “I have to do it. When I heard Adam Silver, it’s everything for me,” he stressed through tears and surrounded by his family. The ‘Alien’ is also excited. “The dream since he was a child,” he said. The same one that did not separate him from Francenow he sends him to conquer the world.
I want to learn as fast as possible to try to win
Wembanyama is thrown at number 1 in the draft: in his last recital it seems that he is playing against children
It’s what you want. “I need to learn as quickly as possible to try to win. It’s a tough league to win, I know. But it’s what I want,” she said. His first day as a star. There are no words anymore. It is the future. Victor Wembanyama, number 1 in the NBA Draft.
