The lights were a little brighter, the cameras a little more numerous, and the tears of joy last June when Victor Wembanyama was chosen in first place in the 2023 NBA Draft. Eight months later, the Frenchman returned for the first time at the Barclays Center, the venue that had crowned him king: last night, he faced the resident team, the Brooklyn Nets, and this time it was the bitter taste of defeat that accompanied the Spurs rookie in his New York trip (123-103).
Times are tough for the Texan franchise, beaten yesterday for the seventh time in a row.
A period that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sums up with an incisive formula: “dog days”, literally dog days, a difficult period reflected by these matches that San Antonio, at the heart of a road trip of 9 meetings, continues to the four corners of the United States without being able to compete.
Amidst all this, Victor Wembanyama is no better off.
After a brilliant month of January, rewarded with the title of rookie of the month, February is much more delicate.
Trusting the process 🙏
Victor, Mamu, Malaki, Julian, and Dom talk through developing their game through their first months with the Spurs in an all-new #BuildingDreams pres.
by @SelfCreditApp #sponsored pic.twitter.com/ONV3mXtEhu
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) February 10, 2024
“I feel good but all our bodies are affected,” the Frenchman tries to explain.
Even if we don't feel it, we will jump less high, run slower, which means we have to make more effort to compensate.
» Three days ago, after the defeat in Orlando (Florida), he also admitted that the irregular sequence of matches was difficult for his body, unaccustomed to such a rhythm.
View of the Hudson, Georgian restaurant, session with Popovich…
From his team's New York hotel, in the Hudson Yards district of western Manhattan, Victor Wembanyama has a view of the quiet Hudson River, but the impression of calm is deceptive: the Frenchman arrives in the Big Apple always a little sick, weakened by allergies.
He increases the number of visits to the sauna to speed up recovery.
Friday evening, he allows himself an outing into town.
His teammate Sandro Mamukelashvili introduced him to a Georgian restaurant, where he shared a meal with his personal trainer Guillaume Alquier and some members of the Texan delegation.
The next morning, no training scheduled.
Gregg Popovich took the opportunity to take him aside and analyze some videos with him.
“We always talk to each other a lot,” says Wembanyama.
He gives me a lot of advice.
»
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In the afternoon, head to the Barclays Center.
“When I arrived at the room, I thought a little about the evening of the Draft,” admits Wemby.
These are good memories.
» The reality is less rosy and the match is very physical.
Moved by his opponents, Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons in the lead, he found his butt on the ground several times.
Way to limit its range of action?
Want to intimidate him?
Maybe a little bit of all of that at once.
“It’s something I’ve already experienced in the past,” puts Victor Wembanyama into perspective.
I learned to get used to it.
And we're at a point in the season where, as Pop told me, we're not going to get all the whistles from the referees.
We have to get through this moment.
»
His opponents play hard on him
More and more, his opponents seem to be playing hard on him.
Claxton, after a dunk, clings to the basket and falls on his shoulders.
Schröder, unhappy with a movement of the Frenchman's elbow, which while trying to shoot touches his face, fouls Wembanyama in the process.
Schröder finds Claxton for the two-hand flush 🤩 pic.twitter.com/27pPYpVvOh
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 11, 2024
San Antonio has been behind for a long time in the score and Victor Wembanyama only stands out with three consecutive three-point baskets, made in two minutes at the start of the second half.
During every timeout, Popovich puts his arm around him and gives him advice.
As is often the case when the score is decided, the Frenchman from Spurs spent the end of the match on the bench.
After the match, he took refuge like the majority of his teammates in the weight room of the New York Liberty, the WNBA women's team which also plays at the Barclays Center, to push weights.
A visit to the media box and he is off with the Spurs towards Toronto, the next stage (Monday) of a marathon of matches which will only be interrupted by the All-Star weekend at the end of next week in Indianapolis.
Victor Wembanyama will participate in the Rising Stars (the best young people's match) and the Skills Challenge (an agility competition).
This time the lights will be very bright again, the cameras will be numerous, and there will normally be nothing but laughter.