The coffee table at his side almost overflows under the multitude of amassed trophies. Best player (MVP) of the season, best defender, best scorer, best blocker, best youngster and, obviously, member of the five majors of the season; the harvest operated by Victor Wembanyama on the end of season rewards in the French championship has left only crumbs for the competition. “I’ve always dreamed of doing unique things, it’s a source of great pridesavors the young French basketball player, the first player to stack trophies in this way. Wherever I go, I want to leave a mark. »
On this hot May afternoon, the Metropolitans 92 player from Boulogne-Levallois, in the Hauts-de-Seine, curled up his gigantic legs to sit next to the National Basketball League (LNB) awards. But from his height (2.21 meters) to his wingspan (2.43 meters) through his talent and his ambition, everything overflows in Victor Wembanyama. At 19, the native of Chesnay (Yvelines) was about to make the big leap – even when, like him, we wear size 55 – to America.
“With the first pick of the 2023 draft, the San Antonio Spurs select Victor Wembanyama. » The official announcement will be made by Adam Silver, the boss of the North American basketball league, Thursday, June 22, in New York, in the evening (2 am in Paris). This great professional – one does not become an NBA commissioner by chance – had the leisure to practice correctly pronouncing the four long syllables of the Frenchman’s surname. Because if the draft, this sort of great purse for players not yet belonging to the NBA and aimed at rebalancing the league, is, in theory, a place of secrets, the name of the first choice of the 2023 edition hardly makes a difference. mystery for several months.
“Unique talent”
Barring an earthquake, the one the Americans have renamed “Wemby” will be chosen first, will put on the cap of the Texas club – which won the draft “lottery” at the end of May – and will go, all smiles, to shake hands of “clerk”. A number 1 costume – his jersey number, anything but a detail – which he has been preparing for since he was young.
“From the age of 13, Victor knew he was going to become an NBA star later”, asserts George Eddy. Mythical voice of basketball in France, the one whose flights have accompanied the rise of the NBA in France follows with passion the evolution of the greatest hope of basketball in the world. “I met him when he was 15, on a Sunday morning”recounts the Franco-American, who rubbed shoulders with the father of the player in the club. I did a shoot contest with him, to give him some little advice. At 15, he already had a perfect technique. I saw right away that it was going to be a unique talent. »
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