Under the spotlight since his selection first overall in the last draft by the San Antonio Spurs, the phenomenon Victor Wembanyama made his NBA debut on Wednesday evening in his team’s 126 to 119 defeat against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Frenchman showed on several occasions why he is considered a unique talent, notably when he made a block against the star of the “Mavs” Kyrie Irving in the first moments of the meeting.
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However, the native of Chesnay-Rocquencourt, in France, found himself in difficulty alone throughout the meeting. He committed several fouls, including one at the very beginning of the fourth quarter, which prompted his head coach Gregg Popovich to leave him on the bench to avoid being excluded.
“Maybe I wanted to do too well, I didn’t put my energy into the right things,” said the 19-year-old athlete at a press briefing after the game. I don’t need to put so much energy into defense. I’m learning for a first match. These are simple things.”
Nothing to help him either, his teammates sometimes seemed to forget his presence on the pitch, particularly at the very end of the match while his team was trying to come from behind.
“I wasn’t frustrated about it,” he said. As I said before, it’s a learning process. This is our first game of the regular season. We’re going to watch the video, we’re going to learn. We’ll watch the film and the players and coaches will do whatever it takes to get better.”
Duncan tunes
It was really during the final quarter of the match that the prodigy seemed to find his way. With less than seven minutes remaining, the 7’4″ giant completed a pass from Devin Vassell for the alley-oop, before scoring a three-pointer 50 seconds later.
The crowd at Frost Bank Center erupted when he dunk and drew a foul to put the Spurs ahead by a tiny point with 4:56 left in the clock. the joust. In the space of three minutes, “Wemby” scored nine points.
Often compared to Tim Duncan as the organization’s next big star, Wembanyama finished his first ever NBA game with 15 points, 6-for-9 shooting and two assists. But guess who also posted identical stats in his first appearance. Tim Duncan.
It is often said that the past is a guarantor of the future. If Wembanyama has a career similar to Duncan’s, let’s just say San Antonio fans will experience more good times than bad in the next decade.