for Victor Wembanyama, the NBA is getting closer – Liberation

2023-04-22 14:13:19

The French giant who fantasizes about basketball fans around the world announced Friday evening that he was registering for the next NBA Draft. No one doubted that his talent, unique in the world, is of interest to American teams.

When the news broke, most NBA fans must have rolled their eyes. For years, Victor Wembanyama, a 2m21 giant, has been announced as the best basketball player of his year of birth (2004). The best talent of the decade some say, while others go so far as to claim that he could be the future greatest player in basketball history. Suffice to say that the formalization this Friday evening of his candidacy for the next NBA draft, an evening during which the 30 teams that make up the big American league choose young players in turn, is not a scoop.

Nonetheless, it made headlines in basketball and sports media around the world. Because Victor Wembanyama is a player apart, at the center of all fantasies across the Atlantic. When most young people who announce themselves as candidates for the draft – you must be at least 19 years old to play in the NBA – do so by posting on social networks, the Frenchman was entitled to his live interview on ESPN, the largest sports channel in the world. An interview to which he responded as usual in clear and perfect English.

Unless the situation turns around – and there won’t be – it is his name that will therefore be called first on June 22 in New York, in front of cameras around the world. Particularity of the American system, it is the teams which choose the players, and not the reverse. Victor Wembanyama will therefore have no say in his destination. He is also careful, over the interviews, to say in which franchise he would like to land. To allow the league to remain as balanced as possible, the worst teams of the past season have a much better chance of choosing first and therefore recovering the Frenchman. This year, Detroit, San Antonio and Houston finished in the last places in the championship and will each have a 14% chance of obtaining the first choice – a draw will take place on May 16 to decide between them.

A talent never seen

If the Frenchman raises so many expectations, what he does is things that no player of his size has already done. If in the NBA tall players are privileged – a basketball player in the United States measures on average 2m01 – true giants are rare. Firstly because there are few human beings who are taller than 2m20. Then because they are often slower, less mobile and less skilful than smaller players, which makes them a real handicap in a championship at breakneck speed. These giants are often more prone to injury than others. Currently, of the approximately 500 players to gravitate around the NBA, only two are over 2m20. And only one really manages to be dominant: the Latvian Kristaps Porziņģis, when he is not injured.

Where Victor Wembanyama impresses is that despite his giant size, he remains ultra-mobile. He can dribble like a playmaker, take long-range shots like a winger, and obviously dunk and counter like an inside. A total player. For his last season in the French championship, he also confirms all the expectations that have weighed on his shoulders for years: he is currently the best scorer (21.5 points on average), rebounder (9.9) and blocker (3.1) of the elite, while his team, despite numerous injuries, is in second place in the championship. It has been years since a player has dominated the French first division so much. And no one had ever done it at 19.

If you’ve been in a cave for the past 2 years, here’s a glimpse of what Victor Wembanyama can do on a basketball court ????pic.twitter.com/3MrUR5bVTK

— Basket-Infos (@Basket_Infos) April 21, 2023

The old Marcel-Cerdan sports hall in Levallois is permanently full, with its 2,814 places leaving each time within a minute of going on sale. Stars are even scrambling to see “Wemby” perform. On the edge of the floor, we could see this season the rapper Travis Scott, the actor Michael Douglas, the vice-world champion Randal Kolo Muani or the former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. At the same time, his team’s matches are all broadcast on the official NBA website. Never had the French championship been so interesting.

In New York, Victor Wembanyama will not be the only tricolor, a sign that the French formation has the wind in its sails. The rear Bilal Coulibaly, his teammate at Levallois, is also announced for the trip. Just like Ryan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers), brother of international Iliana Rupert and son of former Blue Thierry Rupert, and Nadir Hifi, pocket leader (1m84) from Portel.