After a promising first season in the NBA, French basketball prodigy Victor Wembanyama has arrived in France to take part in his first Olympic Games. Within the team, the 20-year-old player is attracting all eyes and arousing a lot of hope.
Published on: 06/29/2024 – 06:36
6 mn
Unlike his teammates, Victor Wembanyama had the right to his own press conference. During the presentation of the French men’s basketball team participating in the Paris Olympic Games, he climbed alone on a platform in a room at Insep, the national training center for high-level athletes. In front of around a hundred journalists, mainly French, but also from some foreign media, “Wemby” responded in complete relaxation to the numerous questions.
Recently back in France to begin preparing for the Olympics, the number 1 in the 2023 Draft is attracting all eyes. “I tend to underestimate this phenomenon because I don’t pay much attention to it,” he simply summed up. However, his popularity is felt even off the field. On June 23, he took part in the Vogue World fashion show on Place Vendôme in Paris.
At 20, he took part in the Olympic Games in his first international competition with the French A team. After an excellent first season in the NBA, expectations were high. pic.twitter.com/DiojMW9vXJ
— Stéphanie Trouillard (@Stbslam) June 27, 2024
Accept Manage my choices
Having become a world star at just 20 years old, the 2.24m player wants to keep a cool head: “I felt the enthusiasm that was different towards me, but I don’t watch the news, I don’t hang out on social networks. It’s not something that bothers me at all but I try to take only the positive.”
The enthusiasm around the man nicknamed “the Alien” and around French basketball continues to grow. It went up another notch this week with the selection of two French talents Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks) and Alexandre Sarr (Washington Wizards) in the first two places of the NBA Draft, an unprecedented and historic double for a country outside the United States.
“It’s a lot of pride, I stayed awake,” reacted Victor Wembanyama, a year after being number 1 in the Draft himself. “My first impression is to tell myself that this is not yet enough for French basketball. If we have done it twice in a row, why not three.”
A few weeks before the start of his very first Olympic Games, Victor Wembanyama does not hide his ambitions. He is hungry for titles and would like to open his medal count in Paris: “I have been preparing for the Olympics since the first time I saw them on TV. It has always been a dream, but as I grew up, it became a “It’s a truly unique event in sport, the most important event in the world.”
“He’s really focused on the competition”
Even though he only has four caps for the Blues so far, expectations are high for this giant. After a very good first season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, at the end of which he won the rookie of the year trophy rewarding the best rookie, he is already seen as one of the major players of the French team.
However, coach Vincent Collet is not overly worried about this pressure which weighs on his young shoulders: “We know that the presence of Victor increases the attractiveness of the team and the attention it will attract from everyone. I also know that Victor is very focused and very mobilized. He is really focused on the competition. He is simply impatient to be able to start the preparation.
The manager of the French men’s basketball team Boris Diaw and the coach Vincent Collet, during the conference organized at Insep, in Paris, on June 27, 2024. © Stéphanie Trouillard, France 24
His teammates are also well aware that they are dealing with a phenomenon and recognize his qualities. “He brings an offensive range beyond his size, a technical range that we rarely have. He will bring a huge plus defensively and offensively. He has an innate talent,” believes captain Nicolas Batum, who will participate in his fourth and final Olympic Games.
But with his veteran experience, the Philadelphia Sixers player also knows that Victor Wembanyama must be preserved: “He is 20 years old, he has competed in zero competitions. He will start with what is hardest. We must avoid to put this pressure on him and to see him as the savior. It is also up to us to protect him from this and to support him.
At 35, Blues captain Nicolas Batum will participate in his fourth and final Olympic Games. © Stéphanie Trouillard, France 24
L’association Wembanyama – Gobert
Three years after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the French basketball team is one of the favorite nations. But this year again, it is the United States, reigning champion, which is the leading contender for the title. Team Usa will arrive in France with a constellation of stars including LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum, recently crowned NBA champion with the Boston Celtics.
In order to hope to take their revenge after the final lost in 2021 against the Americans, the French are counting heavily on the association between Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. For the first time, the best rookie and the best defender of the year in the NBA will play together in the French team. Rudy Gobert is eager to see this duo of interiors form: “Every time I watched him play this year, I told myself that I couldn’t wait to share the court with him and to be able to help him be the best version of himself possible and vice versa”. The pivot of the Minnesota Wolves also knows that he will have a mentoring role to play: “There will be a lot of learning for Victor. Obviously, he will have to absorb a lot, but I know he has the capacity. I will help him to be as dominant as possible”.
Rudy Gobert, center of the Minnesota Timberwolves, was named this year’s “best defender of the year”, equaling the NBA record by winning the trophy for the fourth time. © Stéphanie Trouillard, France 24
The two players will have a month of preparation to find the right automatisms. With their teammates, they will face Turkey on July 3 in Rouen for a first friendly match. Their entry into the Olympic tournament will take place on July 27 in Lille. A few weeks before this deadline, Victor Wembanyama is already setting the tone: “My goal is to make the French people happy with my performances. They know that when I wear the France jersey, it means even more to me. There will be no holding back.”
It was the first time I saw @wemby in real life and it’s very impressive! Looking forward to discovering it on the floor. pic.twitter.com/lhd3ZUH0iQ
— Stephanie Trouillard (@Stbslam) June 27, 2024
Accept Manage my choices
