Why Victor Wembanyama made the right decision to not play EuroLeague
Victor Wembanyama surprised some when he chose Metropolitans over ASVEL for this season. But the decision has worked out greatly - just like almost every decision in the past year for the star talent.
It might seem like a hyperbole, but we are all just witnesses right now in the Victor Wembanyama world.
The basketball globe got to witness Wembanyama make his debut for the France senior national team level on Friday, and he showed up with an outstanding performance against Lithuania in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.
Wembanyama poured in 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting (1/2 threes) and 7-of-7 free throws while grabbing 9 rebounds - 4 from the offensive glass - to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover in France’s 90-65 drubbing of Lithuania on the road.
“I wasn't nervous at all. Just excited in the best way possible," Wembanyama told a press conference. "I was really hungry to get the win tonight. I like to mentally prepare for a couple of hours before the game. I try to do other stuff like drawing, reading, and taking a nap. So, I could give 100 percent mentally for 5-6 hours."
France national team head coach Vincent Collet was pleased with Wembanyama’s performance at both ends of the floor.
“I think Victor entered the game very well because he didn't try to show anything special. He simply was himself, and it's enough [for him] to dominate the game. Our defense was very good, and it was very important. In the situations when we were in trouble, Victor made them [Lithuanian forwards] hesitate,” Collet said.
“In the second half, he dominated in the offense. He had 3-4 plays in a row where he was outstanding. But what's important is that he wanted to win, he thought about it first, and that's the most important thing.”
Ahead of the game, Wembanyama said he couldn’t wait to finally play for France’s senior team.
“Oh, it's unique, deep, very, very special. I can't deny that is a huge honor to represent my country, and the pride and motivation that I have to help the national team is very, very high. When you play for your country, you feel that you are in something special, something great, and I embrace and try to make the most of it every time I have played for the national team in my young career so far. I am very proud to be French, very proud to be part of that team, and very excited for the next days, weeks, months and years to come with Team France,” he told FIBA.basketball.
The 18-year-old superstar talent’s full game was on display - something that he has been exhibiting all season for Metropolitans 92. Through seven games in the French ProA, Wembanyama is averaging 21.3 points on 58.1 percent shooting on two-pointers and 33.3 percent from long range (11-of-33) to go with 75.0 percent on free throws. In his 31.3 minutes per game, Wembanyama is also averaging 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.9 blocks.
He has put together three double-doubles thus far, including his last two games: 23 points, 10 rebounds plus 5 blocks versus Bourg and 33 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks against Limoges.
Coach Collet has been around the game for a long time, leading the French national team since 2009 and having some enormous success on the international stage. During that time he coached some of the greatest in the game with the French national team and against some of the greatest around the world. And when asked about Wembanyama, Collet picked out an utter giant in the game.
“Victor... he is also a point forward (smiles). He is a two, hidden in 7-footer's body. Victor is like Arvydas Sabonis. Not as strong as Sabonis, but with the same skills,” Collet said in an interview with BasketNews. “For sure, Sabonis was a mountain, and Victor is really skinny. But they're both 2.21 m and the same size. And Victor is not only a tall guy. He's superb in skill.”
Collet said it’s a real joy to be coaching Wembanyama, adding: “When you meet a special player like him, you discover something new almost every week. Each week he's getting better. He's 18 years old, but he's already dominating. And he keeps improving.”
With the first FIBA window breaking up the season, this is the perfect opportunity to give an update about where Wembanyama stands in his expected path to become the number one pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Going back to this summer, it was surprising when Wembanyama announced that he would be leaving LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and join Metropolitians, especially because the club would not be playing internationally at all - neither the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, 7DAYS EuroCup nor Basketball Champions League. The thought process was he would be well-served to face high level competition and also get used to the rigors of a long season - something that helped Luka Doncic not run into the rookie wall in his NBA rookie season as is the case often for NBA newcomers from college who only play some 35-40 games.
Of course, it was clear that part of the reason Wembanyama choose Metropolitans was because France’s coach Collet was the playcaller there. But it was only after reading some of the interviews Wembanyama gave around the start of the season that it made more sense for him to not play EuroLeague for example.
Ask anybody about the 18-year-old star talent and after they rave about his game and his jaw-dropping skillset, nearly everyone ultimately will give the final comment: He just has to stay healthy.
And when you look at Victor Wembanyama, it’s no surprise people say that. He recently disclosed that he stands 7-foot-3 barefoot and has never been measured wearing shoes. Wembanyama is still very thin but it’s also clear that he is working on putting effective and efficient mass on his frame - at the same time knowing he will physically mature with age.
A long feature in Slam magazine told a story about one of Wembanyama’s agents Bouna Ndiaye going to see orthopedic surgeon Tarek Souryal, the Dallas Mavericks former head team physician, about how to best help the young talent’s body get stronger and avoid injury.
“You need to rest,” Ndiaye recalls being told by Souryal in Slam. “Go easy on the flights, the travel. Rest. That’s why we decided to leave ASVEL this summer and pick up Levallois, who plays only one game a week. It [gives] Victor time to work on his core [with his physical trainer Guillaume Alquier] and build up his body before going to the NBA.”
This all makes total sense. The EuroLeague schedule is an absolute beast - actually tougher than an NBA schedule in many regards. And one can argue that a tired body could actually lead to injuries - the very thing everyone hopes for him to avoid. And then of course there is also the actual work Wembanyama can do on strengthening his body.
An article on Andscape quoted ASVEL club majority owner Tony Parker that Wembanyama had been offered an opportunity to start this season, which would have been his second season with the club - not an easy thing to turn down, the youngster said.
“Obviously it wasn’t a happy moment for either for him or for me,” Wembanyama said in the Andscape article. “But at the end of the day, I know he wishes the best for me, and he understood my decision.”
ASVEL was not the only place looking to attract Wembanyama for this season. G-League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim told Andscape that Wembanyama also turned down a spot with the Ignite team. And the article also quoted ESPN’s Jonathan Givony as saying Wembanyama had offers from the Australian NBL league, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Basketball among others.
Instead, it was Metropolitans and a team that was clearly built around Wembanyama with the aim of allowing him to showcase his game.
“I came here specifically for this, to have the opportunity to have a team built around me,’’ Wembanyama said in Slam magazine. “It’s hard to empower young French basketball players in French basketball. I was always playing with players sometimes two or three years older than me growing up. So, I have never been the man. It’s my third year as a pro, it’s time to take my responsibilities.”
Playing 31.3 minutes and making his mistakes and learning from them while playing in one of the most physical and athletic domestic leagues are a golden opportunity for Wembanyama. Especially the 31.3 minutes - something it’s hard to imagine he would get to play with ASVEL, whose minutes leader in the EuroLeague so far this season is forward David Lighty at 26:49 per game. And only Elie Okobo (27:33) Chris Jones (27:31) and Lighty (25:25) played more than 23 minutes per game in the EuroLeague last season.
The fact that Wembanyama decided on Metropolitans and not one of France’s teams in the Basketball Champions League (JDA Bourgogne Dijon, Limoges CSP or SIG Strasbourg) or 7DAYS EuroCup (Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse or Paris Basketball) also allowed him a once-in-a-lifetime experience - and two games that without a doubt put his name on the minds of every basketball observer not to mention some of the best ballers in the world.
The Basketball Champions League started their pan-European season on October 3 and EuroCup tipped off their campaign on on October 11. Wembanyama and his teammates meanwhile were taking a trip to the United States - thanks also to Roanne agreeing to move their French league game against Metropolitans planned for October 8 to December 6 to accommodate the Metropolitans experience.
Metropolitans flew from France to Las Vegas on October 3 to play a pair of exhibition games against the G League Ignite team on October 4 and 6. In front of hundreds of NBA scouts, Wembanyama shined individually with 37 points including 7 three-pointers, 4 rebounds and 5 blocks. Albeit in a 122-115 loss to the G League team.
Wembanyama helped Metropolitans bounce back in the second matchup, rallying from 16 points down to win 112-106 and collecting 36 points with 2 three-pointers, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks.
Wembanyama’s performances basically blew up social media including the best of the best in the game singing their praises of the French youngster.
“Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien,” Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James said. “No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor ... His ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot step-back jumpers out of the post, step-back threes, catch-and-shoot threes, block shots. He’s, for sure, a generational talent. Hopefully he’s able to stay healthy. That’s the most important for him personally. But you can tell he loves the game. He is smiling a lot. … He’s a big time player.”
Golden State guard Stephen Curry added: “He’s like the (NBA) 2K create-a-player, every point guard that wants to be 7-foot. Cheat-code type vibe but he’s a solid talent. It's great to watch.”
Wembanyama’s compatriot Rudy Gobert said the talent’s defensive instincts remind him of himself, while his ballhandling and shooting remind him of Kevin Durant.
“What strikes me the most about him is his maturity," Gobert said. “Obviously, he's a very unique talent and he has a very unique physique. But his maturity and his confidence ... he's very unique.”
Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has known about Wembanyama for a while as his younger brother Kostas played with him at ASVEL in 2021.
“He’s incredible. I believe in 2045 everybody’s gonna look like Victor … you know … but the way his skills, the way he can shoot the ball, the way he can move, he’s extremely fast for his size, can block shots, can be a threat on the defensive end, he’s unbelievable. I believe it’s only a matter of time for him to be in the league and for him the key is to just getting better, keep staying humble and stay healthy. A body like that with a skillset like that as long as he can stay heathy and is going to keep improving keep enjoying the game as much as he can and I think he’s gonna be … he has the chance to be one of the best … not in his age or not in Europe … but one of the best to ever play this game,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have never seen something like that before. It’s a good challenge for everybody around the league to have somebody who is 7-2 to be able to shoot over you, to dribble like he is a guard, to block shots, to run down the floor fast. We gotta get ready for this kid. He’s gonna be really good.”
Kevin Durant meanwhile said of course he has noticed Wembanyama, adding: “How can you miss him?”
The Brooklyn Nets star shook his head and smiled before continuing: “That type of talent and skill, it just puts a smile on your face if you play basketball. The evolution of the game is taking us this far. You have 7-5 dudes they are able to do everything on the court. He’s inspiring a lot of other people out here. I heard a comment he said, somebody compared him to a few players in the league and he said I think I’ll do a disservice if I compare myself to one or two players. He wants to take from everybody. That was such a profound statement and made me a big fan of his. The league’s really in trouble when he comes in. I want to see how it plays out. Everybody’s been excited for his arrival to the League so we’ll see what happens.”
One of the characteristics that has shined through for Wembanyama is his humbleness. And his reaction to LeBron James’ comments touched on that.
“It’s obviously an honor to see such great people talk like this about me, but it really doesn’t change anything. People around me sent me the video this morning but I thought: that was cool, but not more. I just try to stay focused,” he said after the second exhibition against the Ignite team. “The thing is, I didn’t do anything yet. I didn’t play a game in the NBA yet. I wasn’t drafted. I’ve got to stay focused to reach my goals. It’s gonna be tough in time to get better every day and stay consistent.”
Wembanyama continued in that post-game press conference talking about how he keeps himself humble and also what he thinks of the attention.
“It’s a lot of self reflection. I spend a lot of time doing nothing. Not sleeping but closing my eyes and thinking about myself and thinking about staying the same every day, but at the same time getting better at my job,” he said. “I feel like I deserve it so I won’t be surprised by this attention. If I was stunned or amazed by all this it would mean that I am satisfied with it. And I’m not. I want to get better every day. The state I am at right now is not enough.”
When asked if all the attention felt weird, Wembanyama’s answer hit home once again at how grounded he is and how much he enjoys being with a team.
“No, it doesn’t. The one time it felt weird was three days ago we were at practice and I just spent 30-45 minutes with the media while my team was warming up. And I felt like … at this moment I was just away from the team and I didn’t like it. I saw my team kind of waiting for me. I just wanted to join them and get to practice. I felt kind of bad. So next practice I decided to do all the media stuff after practice,” he said.
Metropolitans trip also included attending an NBA pre-season game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves in Las Vegas, which was broadcast on ESPN. And Wembanyama felt every bit of a star attraction.
He shook hands with Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and also was photographed with Rudy Gobert, who almost looked more in awe of being with Wembanyama than the other way around.
Wembanyama was also interviewed on the ESPN broadcast by Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
“For me … it was the first time playing a 48-minute game … and what I noticed I need to get my energy up sometimes, getting used to playing hard for longer periods of time because I was getting tired playing 9-10 minutes straight. That’s the primary thing I gotta work on,” Wembanyama said.
When asked about all the hoopla, he responded: “It’s not hard at all because I have great people around me. I‘m just doing my thing. I don’t really care about all this social media stuff. Of course my friends and all send me stuff, some posts, and I see some things but I don’t really care about it.”
Collet said that Wembanyama took a major step forward since the Vegas trip.
“I think he got better. We had three games before where he had some bad decision-making often. After Las Vegas, it was much less the case,” Collet told BasketNews. “In the last three games, he was much better at the way he was reading the game. He didn't force the game. And he's more patient. He already had a 30-point game, and it was around 20 before. It might be because his shooting percentage is increasing due to better shot selection. He's passing the ball more. He had only around 5 in the first three games, and now he averaged 4 in the last four games.”
One of the main things that Collet is working on with Wembanyama is his decision making.
“For me, to keep improving, he has to make better and better decisions. That's why I try to teach him and help him. Even if he gets better, he'll surely make some bad decisions. But the main thing is to go in the right direction,” Collet said in the BasketNews interview.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN said Wembanyama is playing like Joel Embiid with Metropolitans.
The Las Vegas trip was actually Wembanyama’s second experience in the United States in 2022. He went to Dallas for six weeks to train with former NBA player Melvin Sanders, who specializes in athlete movement and biomechanics.
“Victor’s body has an ability to adapt really fast,” Sanders was quoted in the Slam article. “His body changed a lot, he got stronger, he was moving better when he left…I have never seen a body like him, and I played basketball for a long time.”
Wembanyama also spent time in Dallas working out on the campus of Southern Methodist University with current NBA players Tyrese Maxey and Myles Turner.
“He is a curious player,’’ basketball skills coach Tim Martin told Slam. “He wants to know why you are doing that move, when you are going to do it, how to comprehend the techniques and be able to apply them during the game. His ability to process information is very unique. Victor has a beautiful basketball mind.”
Wembanyama said he loved his first trip to the United States and told an interview on ESPN in August 2022: “I look forward to living there in a few months.”
In that interview he also talked about his impressions on the meaning of sports in the United States.
“I knew that sports has a huge place over there but I was just surprised the way that people treat athletes over there. They really consider sports an important thing. That is not always the case in Europe. As a basketball player I loved my experience in the US.”
Wembanyama spending the summer working out individually meant he missed out on the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, where he would have had a chance to play a major tournament as a youngster with zero expectations and just learn from the experience.
His debut with the French national team ended up being delayed a couple months and everything that has happened between the summer and the game in Lithuania seems to have fit perfectly.
All in all, Victor Wembanyama seems not only able to do everything on the court, but he’s humble enough to recognize that he’s just at the beginning and he’s been smart enough to put the right people around him to make the right decisions for him on and off the court for the long term.