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Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff WriterSep 30, 2024, 04:46 PM ET
- Joined ESPN in 2010
- Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
- Played college football at West Texas A&M
SAN ANTONIO — Six high-stakes, pressure-packed games at the Olympics in France over the summer taught Victor Wembanyama a valuable lesson that he aims to apply in his second NBA season with the San Antonio Spurs.
“It’s hard to win games in the Olympics,” he said. “But it’s very easy to lose games.”
The No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA draft, Wembanyama experienced pressure at the Olympics unlike anything he had ever faced in the league during a unanimous Rookie of the Year campaign. Wembanyama understands it might take “a long time before I experience something such as this” in the NBA, but he also recognizes that applying the lessons learned might fast-track San Antonio’s path back to contention.
“It was maybe the most intense sports experience in my life,” Wembanyama said of the Olympics. “I felt really lucky to have the chance to live those experiences. I felt proud as well. During all elimination games, for 40 minutes we were locked in thinking about one thing: the next play. As a team, it builds something to have this level of concentration, all of us towards the same goal. The emotion is just too much to contain. You have to scream or cry a little bit. It’s too much to contain.”
So, expect Wembanyama to channel it toward helping San Antonio improve its 22-game win total from last season alongside veteran new additions Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes. The Spurs fielded the league’s youngest team during the 2023-24 season. But over the summer coach Gregg Popovich watched the team’s franchise cornerstone grow tremendously with Team France.
After the conclusion of the 2023-24, Wembanyama spent approximately two months in San Antonio working to improve his strength before departing for the Olympics. The team currently lists Wembanyama at 235 pounds, up 25 pounds from his listed weight as a rookie. The Frenchman said gaining strength “is the primary thing that allows me to expand my game,” increasing his ability to play through contact and improving overall athleticism.
Popovich watched all the work manifest itself in France.
“He improved steadily throughout the Olympics and ended up being very formidable,” Popovich said. “His aggressiveness was the big thing, and physicality. He’s understanding what it takes, what he’s going to get, and what he’s got to give back to counter that kind of thing. FIBA is much more aggressive. So, it was a wonderful little petri dish for him, so to speak. To be able to have to do that every day and every game, that’s where he really rose as it went along. He scored 26 points against the USA team in the Finals. It was kind of like a David Robinson thing where I didn’t really know he had 26 points. It was like that with Victor because he can do so many different things.”
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New teammate Barnes watched the Olympics, too, calling the gold medal game a “win-win” because Team USA emerged victorious while Wembanyama also excelled.
“It just shows the growth and maturity that he has for a guy his age to be playing in that type of moment at home,” Barnes said. “I don’t think people realize, just, the pressure he was under. To play at that level at that stage, to have that type of game, it was huge. It shows he’s ready to take on a bigger role, not only in the offense or the defense but just in terms of leadership and speaking to guys who maybe haven’t been on that stage or been in that situation.”
In fact, shooting guard Devin Vassell offered a bold prediction and a warning for the rest of the NBA when discussing Wembanyama’s Year 2 prospects at media day. In addition to gaining core strength over the summer, the 20-year old homed in on fundamentals while focusing on finishing better at the rim.
Wembanyama also spent time working dribble moves over the summer with Jamal Crawford, a retired three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
“The game is slowing down for him,” Vassell explained. “He’s seeing everything, the reads, what shots he wants to get to, finishing. Every step of his game is growing. [With] the numbers he was putting up last year, the runs he was going on, for him to be [still] improving, it’s going to be scary for the league this year. I can tell you that.”
What Wembanyama wants to show, though, is fruitful manifestation on the floor in Year 2 from a laborious summer he hopes proves key in the young Spurs finally turning the corner toward postseason contention.
“These expectations, I just manage like I’ve managed all the others for years,” he said. “I just focus on my actual responsibilities. I can say I’m glad these abilities are being recognized. My emphasis is always going to be on winning and making my teammates better. It’s no different than previous years. It’s just that last year, our expectations were to learn and know ourselves. This year, we expect from us to win.”
