Victor Wembanyama has recognized the place he will likely be taking part in skilled basketball because the second the San Antonio Spurs received the draft lottery final month.
And the 19-year-old French phenom cannot wait to formally grow to be a member of the Spurs, who intend to open the draft through the use of the No. 1 decide on Wembanyama on Thursday evening in New York.
“For me, San Antonio is synonymous with winning,” Wembanyama stated at Wednesday’s pre-draft press convention in New York. “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 received 5 NBA titles underneath coach Gregg Popovich and have beforehand hit the No. 1 general draft decide jackpot twice with the picks of David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
Both gamers are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as is Popovich.
Another interesting factor concerning the Spurs to Wembanyama is that French gamers Tony Parker and Boris Diaw had profitable stints with the Spurs.
San Antonio undoubtedly wants Wembanyama, who’s alleged to face 7-foot-4. The Spurs missed the playoffs in every of the previous 4 seasons and have been a woeful 22-60 final season. San Antonio has misplaced extra video games on simply two events.
Call it superb timing to seize Wembanyama, essentially the most hyped draft decide to enter the league since LeBron James in 2003.
Wembanyama is not in the slightest degree rattled by all of the fuss about him leaving France to play on the planet’s high basketball league.
“I don’t let this, all this stuff, get into my head because I got such high expectations for myself that I’m immune to all this stuff,” Wembanyama stated. “So I really don’t care.”
Part of what makes Wembanyama so intriguing is the truth that he isn’t your typical 7-foot-plus participant.
Wembanyama likes to deliver the ball up courtroom and fireplace 3-pointers. He does not thoughts getting bodily within the inside however he prides himself on his all-around skillset.
“No one is going to stop me from dribbling the ball, bringing the ball up and shooting 3s,” Wembanyama stated. “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 actually an on a regular basis battle to remain true to myself, and, yeah, that is one thing that I’m by no means going to lose, for positive.”
However, Wembanyama made simply 27.1 p.c of his 3-point makes an attempt in 44 video games for Boulogne-Levallois this season in France. He made a scorching 75.1 p.c of his two-point makes an attempt to shoot 55.2 p.c general.
Wembanyama averaged 20.6 factors, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocked photographs and a pair of.5 assists this season for the Metropolitans 92.
–Field Level Media/Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
