It’s been a long, long time since anyone arrived in the NBA with as much hype as Spurs rookie center Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
But his 7-foot-4 frame is taking it all in stride.
“I have a lot to learn,” Wembanyama said, via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “I can just turn to whoever really, even the guys who have just two or three years in this league, and they have really good advice.”
For now, Wembanyama indicated he is adjusting to the speed of the NBA game, as opposed to what he faced last year as a member of French club Metropolitans 92.
“Everything is coming very, very fast — all the information, the new set plays, the principles,” he told reporters, via Tom Orsborn of the Express-News. “It’s a lot, a lot of stuff I have never seen before and that I don’t know, and it’s hard.”
That said, small forward Keldon Johnson doesn’t think it will be too much for the big man to handle.
“Vic’s such a humble kid,” Johnson told reporters. “He doesn’t let any of the hype or media come into his life or affect him as a person.”
- Guard Devonte’ Graham is mostly impressed with Wembanyama’s versatility. “He’s a one through five. He can play all positions,” Graham said, via Orsborn. “He can bring the ball up the court, he can handle it, he can shoot it, he can pass it. And then you can throw it to him in the post and he can go to work.”
- Of course, with Wembanyama will come a lot more attention for the Spurs as a whole. “We have kind of had a team gathering about just the different things about media and the attention that is coming and how to handle it,” Graham said. “They have done a good job of kind of prepping us.”
- While the Spurs seem set in the pivot, it appears they are still figuring things out at point guard, where Tre Jones may be the leader for the starting role. But maybe not, too. “We haven’t made any decisions on who is where,” coach Gregg Popovich said, via Orsborn.
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