This Wednesday, October 25, 2023, will be marked in the history of world basketball as the day that Víctor Wembanyama officially debuted in the NBA. The Frenchman had a good debut but the San Antonio Spurs could not beat the Dallas Mavericks at home.
The giant finished with 15 points and nine rebounds and was one of the team’s standouts. His participation was diminished due to being charged with fouls quickly, which made him spend more time than expected on the substitute bench. After the match, Wembanyama himself expressed: “It would have been perfect to debut with a victory. I want to win and really start our season with a victory on Friday, against Houston. We will inevitably lose games, nobody likes to lose, especially me, but that it’s part of the game”.
Then he added: “I wasn’t really aggressive, I couldn’t be really aggressive in the first half. In the last quarter I was able to score some baskets surprising the rivals because they were focused on my teammates, that’s how the team works.”
Finally, Wembanyama expressed: “Maybe I wanted to do too well, I didn’t put my energy into the right things. I don’t need to take so many risks defensively. I’m learning, it’s not surprising for a first game. For me, they are simple things that can be done. easily adjust.”
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic had an exceptional night and spoiled Wembanyama’s debut. After the match, he spoke about Víctor and expressed: “He was fantastic, I told him, he played very well for it being his first game. I don’t remember a rookie who played his first game like that. I remember my first game, I was nervous “He didn’t seem nervous to me, he played wonderfully.”
On the side of Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs, he spoke about Wembanyama and his foul trouble in the debut and commented: “One of the most difficult things for players is to get into foul trouble and have to get out, you never get in in rhythm, you enter and leave the game.”
Finally, Gregg added: “I think his maturity showed even at a young age, when he came up in the last seven minutes. He just played. We did some things for him, he executed things for him, he executed things that a lot of guys would have already missed. “Completely because they were in foul trouble and didn’t get the rhythm. I thought he had a wonderful start.”
On Mark Cuban’s side, when he was asked, he responded, chicanering the Frenchman: “General number one choice, Dereck Lively,” referring to the debut of the new Dallas player, who was traded after being chosen by the Oklahoma City Thunder in position 12. The rookie stood out with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
2023-10-26 19:05:56
#repercussions #Wembanyamas #NBA #debut
