He raised his arms high towards the sky as he returned to the locker room, but it was not for a victory.
Victor Wembanyama had just lost last night with his team in the “skills challenge”, this skill test of the All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, and for him this defeat above all meant the start of a few days of rest .
The resumption of the season for the Spurs will not take place until Thursday in Sacramento (California), and until then, the rookie plans… to rest.
Victor Wembanyama at the Skills Challenge, it looks like this:
pic.twitter.com/01dudHEJzf
— Benjamin Moubèche (@BenjaminMoubech) February 18, 2024
“Relax, enjoy nature.
I love hiking.
I need this boost of energy,” he confides in the corridors of Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the US football team the Indianapolis Colts, occupied by the NBA for the weekend. .
Two days run smoothly for the Frenchman, between contractual obligations, the Rising Stars on Friday evening (the meeting of the best young people in the NBA) and the Skills Challenge on Saturday evening.
“I met a lot of people, legendary players, I gained a lot of interesting experiences, I was able to talk with a whole bunch of people who have had a lot of success in their careers, like Mark Cuban or Michael Rubin.
»
Shaq: "This is why my brain is here and you guys are down there."
🤣
Ernie: "Do not take this advice from Dr. O'Neal!"
😭
Shaq's reaction to Wemby's 'Gas Math' impersonation is gold pic.twitter.com/2HaltnI7HG
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2024
He got through the Skills Challenge like the rest: quickly.
In front of very full stands, mainly for the three local Pacers basketball players (Haliburton, Turner, Mathurin), he began by participating in a TV set with the American channel TNT, where he tried to imitate the star consultant Shaquille O'Neal, before revealing the flowery words that Gregg Popovich, his Spurs coach, used against him earlier in the season.
"I've always thought Pop was the best coach in the world, years before being drafted."
💯
Wemby already knew that him & Pop would be the perfect fit pic.twitter.com/Rq0jtuCIwn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 18, 2024
For the skill competition, he is placed in the “First Picks” team, the first Draft choices, with Paolo Banchero (2022) and Anthony Edwards (2020).
Opposite, two other teams: that of the All Stars (Young, Barnes, Maxey) and therefore that of the Pacers.
The LED parquet, an NBA innovation, announces the color.
Literally: it will be the one, sometimes red, blue, or yellow, of the game and the show.
During the warm-up, Wembanyama made a basket from the middle of the field.
Wemby casually from halfcourt #AllStar pic.twitter.com/kMmRPeTQLv
— Krysten Peek (@krystenpeek) February 17, 2024
The Wemby team lost the first event, consisting of a slalom and shots to be completed as quickly as possible, lost the second again, where they had to hit moving targets of different sizes, and finally the third, a succession of shots.
The Frenchman, visibly concerned by the competition, is doing a little better than his teammates, but not enough to compete with a trio of Pacers who are far too motivated.
His teammates especially took advantage of the moment to joke, Anthony Edwards in the lead, for example by shooting with his left hand, his bad one.
“They wanted to have fun,” Victor Wembanyama begins by apologizing, before adding: “For me, having fun is winning.
»
STEPHEN vs.
SABRINA WAS A MOVIE.
Sabrina Ionescu opened on fire and dropped 26... before Stephen Curry came through in the clutch to win it with 29!
Enjoy.
🍿 pic.twitter.com/Sz104f95FZ
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
The evening is also marked by the victory of Stephen Curry in his distance duel with Sabrina Ionescu during the three-point contest, and that, like last year, of the young phenomenon Mac McClung in the dunk contest, by attempting, and succeeding, an attempt over… Shaquille O’Neal.
HE'S DONE IT AGAIN 🤯
Mac McClung is the back-to-back #ATTSlamDunk champion ‼️
Straight 5⃣0⃣'s#StateFarmSaturday on TNT pic.twitter.com/p2sBx7h2IM
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
On the edge of the floor, he jokes with Trae Young (Atlanta), who many Spurs fans already see in San Antonio next season.
He returns to the locker room, raising his arms, relieved to be done with his obligations, and to rush straight to the airport where a plane is waiting for him to return to San Antonio.
Two days of rest before training resumes on Tuesday: an eternity in an NBA season.