Just before kick-off, a small crowd formed around Victor Wembanyama's parents. Omar Sy has just entered the Marcel-Cerdan Sports Palace. A few hours before the NBA lottery, Victor Wembanyama plays there on May 16, his last game of the regular season. Nothing disturbs the giant who plays as if it were an evening like any other while he is, for a few hours, the object of planetary attention. The entire NBA and French sport are suspended to the result of the lottery that will determine, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the destination for the next three or four years of the French prodigy.
The match has started and discreetly, without anyone noticing, Kylian Mbappé, the PSG striker, comes to settle alongside Omar Sy, just below the entire Wembanyama clan. The two global phenomena of French sport are brought together for a match in the same room and in the same place. It's a unique privilege: "I came to see Wemby," explains the captain of the France team at the microphone of beIN Sports I promised him that I would come. It took me a little while but I'm here today. Because I also know it's a special day for him. I came to enjoy watching him play. »
Kylian Mbappé present for the match of Wemby 👀 pic.twitter.com/83JdkkjsmC
— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) May 16, 2023
The two stars already know each other. They met one evening last fall at the Park. "Kylian doesn't necessarily have to be an inspiration to recognize his greatness," Wemby told us in December the day after the World Cup final. It is obvious how great it is and only people who are in denial cannot, or do not want to, recognize it. With the hero of the series Lupin, Mbappé was entitled to the break to a visit to the locker room to greet the very next number 1 pick of the NBA draft. The two magicians of the same generation are often compared: "We are both different anyway, says Mbappe. You don't have to be a top athlete to know that this guy is special. What we can do is accompany him, support him, admire what he is already doing and what he will do in the future."
Read also14 teams and Wembanyama: five minutes to understand how the NBA lottery works
The PSG forward, a big fan of the NBA with whom he is in partnership, should continue the evening with Wemby and perhaps attend with him the draw of the lottery scheduled around 2 am. "Or would I like to see him land in the NBA? comments the footballer on beIN Sports. This is first of all what is important to him. With Popovich and the Spurs, it can be quite a lot even if there has already been TP there. Above all, he must write his own story. Everyone can't wait to see him in the NBA and me first. I'm going to follow that tonight and cheer him on no matter what. »
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