By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Victor Wembanyama is locked for the no1 spot in the upcoming NBA draft and he talked to “First Team” about the way he prepared for this moment, the way he sees the game, his relationship with the media, and what he expects to achieve in his career.
Wembanyama signed this year with Metropolitans 92, leaving Tony Parker’s ASVEL and the EuroLeague behind him, playing only one game per week and having the time to prepare himself individually for the NBA and the draft, having a team build around him, something really rare for a teenager in Europe.
Still, he would like to be more tested on the EuroLeague level, but at this point, he believes he made the right choice. As he said: “There was a little regret leaving the EuroLeague but in hindsight, there was no reason for that. As a competitor, I would have liked to taste a little more of European competition but I had to make a choice and I made the best choice”.
French basketball icon Tony Parker, who owns ASVEL and had Wembanyama on the roster last year, recently said that he feels that the upcoming no1 pick of the NBA draft didn’t really improve this season.
Wembanyama believes the opposite: “I know Tony, there’s no animosity between us. Media can distort a few things sometimes but he knows that I progressed in a different role and even the numbers and the standings. I have an important role on a team that is very well-ranked”.
To be exact, Metropolitans 92 are currently over ASVEL in the French top league standings, second only to Monaco, which made it to the EuroLeague playoffs.
A phenomenon
Wembanyama also explained how he develops his game to be a unique basketball, pushing the sport to the limits.
Working among others with Dirk Nowitzki’s guru, Holger Geschwindner, the young French phenomenon explained in detail how he works in his game, what the evolution of the sport will be, and what was his biggest asset, denying to limit his potential on a box, like some and thankfully few of his coaches tried.
As Wembanyama explained: “When I was playing at U14, we went to Spain for a tournament and the coach wanted me to play like a traditional pivot. Defend, block, rebound the ball, and give it to the point guard. That was the extreme and thankfully only for just one week. But the coaches always have this little pressure to win games even at younger ages and want to play it safe. So they would say “Victor don’t do that” and it’s mental, it’s unconscious. For me that would be the biggest mistake, to put myself in a box”.
Wembanyama also praised his current coach and also French national team boss Vincent Collet, talked about his relationship with the media and also agreed that it’s harder to score in Europe than in the NBA.