Victor Wembanyama flew to Paris this year to test the boundaries of his greatness, showing us why we call him an alien while reminding us of all the ways he's human.
Victor Wembanyama returned home this summer at the Paris Olympics to claim the France national team as his own and remind the NBA he’s got next, stealing the starting center spot from a future Basketball Hall of Famer and leading France to silver. But while Wembanyama’s absurd physical feats and well-aged game reminded hoops heads just how otherworldly he is at age 20, in total Wembanyama’s run in Paris was far more a reminder that he is in fact human.
Wembanyama averaged nearly 4 “stocks” per game in under 30 minutes. Once he took over for Gobert, France held the top two finishers at last year’s FIBA World Cup under 75 points. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year turned the Paris court into his own planet, where the rules of physics were unrecognizable to the rest of us. When Wembanyama is around, the ball is always is. Everyone else is just borrowing it.Wembanyama erases the basket and slithers out on switches with equal menace.
For now, Wembanyama is best operating in the high post or at the nail. With his high release and heads-up passing, he can draw help and orchestrate from a more threatening spot. After posting a 21.5 percent assist rate as an NBA rookie, Wembanyama averaged more than 3 per game in his first Olympics. In the short term, his NBA future might look more like young Dirk Nowitzki than prime Kevin Durant.
In sum, Wembanyama was impressive in his first Olympics but not mind-bending. France making it as far as they did without a major impact from the vets was special, but we can’t give all that credit to Wembanyama alone. Yet fans flocked to him anyway, through social media highlights and viral quotes.
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