French interior Victor Wembanyama prepares to shoot a free throw with his Boulogne Levallois Metropolitan 92 team, during the Betclic Elite final against Monaco. June 15, 2023. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
Victor Wembanyama, expected to become the No. 1 NBA Draft on Thursday in Brooklyn, signed autographs for fans who greeted him upon his arrival at Newark Airport from France on Monday (June 19).
No sooner had he set foot in New Jersey than dozens of fans, some dressed in Spurs jerseys, handed him basketballs, jerseys and collectibles for him to put his signature on. . What he did patiently, with a smile.
“I don’t know how they knew what flight I was on”Wembanyama said in a video posted by the NBA on social media. “It’s fun to see that you can have such an impact on people. »
The 19-year-old prodigy, the world‘s greatest basketball prospect at 2.24m tall, should be selected by the San Antonio Spurs in three days, the team with which he will make his debut in the world‘s highest league in october.
Soon with the Spurs jersey in the summer league?
An outstanding player – his dimensions make him an interior, but with the fluidity of a much smaller player – the 19-year-old French international has been attracting the attention of the North American basketball league for years (he has started playing pro at the age of 15). And the first place in the draft has been assured to him for a long time.
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Wembanyama will speak, along with a number of draft candidates, on Wednesday in New York during a press briefing, on the eve of the big night. Unless there is an unlikely turnaround, he will be chosen Thursday evening by the Spurs in first position and will then fly to San Antonio where a press presentation is scheduled for Saturday.
A mural of Victor Wambanyama outside a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. June 15, 2023. ERIC GAY / AP
He could then wear, in matches, the franchise jersey during the summer league, NBA pre-season competition, organized both in Sacramento (July 3 and July 5) but also in Las Vegas (from July 8 to July 14th).
But his participation is still debated within the Texas franchise. The interior could be put to rest after a trying season of Betclic Elite, lost in the final, and the Basketball World Cup which will take place in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Victor Wembanyama should wear the blue jersey in Asia, a few weeks before the start of the NBA championship season.