San Antonio Spurs (DR) / NBA (DR)
If there is one who never doubted Victor Wembanyama’s success in the NBA, it is Tony Parker.
The president of ASVEL had in fact made a very strong speech about the pivot, in January 2023.
Almost a year and a half later, everything was confirmed.
What can we say about Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season, except that it was a real masterclass?
His Spurs certainly lost a lot of games (22-60, 14th in the West), but the pivot shone brightly with more than 21 points, 10 rebounds, almost 4 assists and 3.6 blocks on average.
And we are certainly not about to forget the astronomical quantity of highlights that he provided us throughout the exercise:
An appreciation post for one of the greatest rookie seasons ever
Salute to Victor Wembanyama on a great season 🫡
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 13, 2024
The international tricolor literally shut the mouths of all his detractors.
His frail physique would not allow him to dominate regularly?
He played no less than 71 matches and shone against Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert.
Would his shot not be reliable enough?
The percentages can still be improved, but he led the NBA in three-point stepbacks. Simply crazy.
TP’s big prediction for Wemby in 2023
On the French side, we are obviously rubbing our hands since from the start, we were convinced that the V was going to wreak carnage on the American courts.
Former president of Wemby at ASVEL and legend of San Antonio, Tony Parker never stopped proclaiming that his colt would experience great success across the Atlantic.
In January 2023, the Hall of Famer did not mince his words on the show Popcorn :
He’s a unique talent, we’ve never seen that in the history of basketball, whether French or worldwide.
He has a unique skill set relative to his size.
He is so fast, fluid, he can dribble: he can do everything. Injuries are the only thing that can stop him.
I still hope he stays healthy because a lot of players miss their careers due to injuries.
More than a year later, we can say that TP was right all along.
It should also be noted that without the big man’s few physical ailments during the winter, he would perhaps never have been limited in his playing time for weeks.
His performances could therefore have been even more Dantean… Enough to salivate for the future.
A priori, only injuries can prevent Victor Wembanyama from playing in the league in the years to come.
Because if his opponents will look for solutions to counter him, he should not stop progressing when he is only 20 years old.
