Victor Wembanyama has pulled back the curtain on his experience at the Paris Olympic games over the summer and how it has shaped his preparation for Year 2 in the NBA.
“It’s hard to win games in the Olympics,” he said, via ESPN. “But it’s very easy to lose games.”
Wemby came into the NBA with a huge amount of expectaions and pressure thrust upon him, but he didn’t flinch.
The Olympics was a whole new ball game, however.
“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.”
Spurs coach Greg Popovich thinks Wembayama will be all the better for the full-on experience he had with 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.”
With Year 2 well on its way, Wemby says not much has changed in terms of pressure and the goal remains the same: to win.
“These expectations, I just manage like I’ve managed all the others for years,” Wembanyama 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.”
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