San Antonio Spurs were a force to reckon with in the late 1990s and continued to be title contenders till the early 2010s. With players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, the franchise achieved a lot of success in the NBA. However, after their core players retired, the Spurs were in rebuild mode, and the city had lost its charm. According to Parker and Ginobili, San Antonio is starting to feel alive again, and all credit goes to the new crop of young players.
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In the recent episode of ‘SKWEEK by Tony Parker’, the host invited his long-time teammate – Manu Ginobili, to discuss the franchise’s future. While talking about the rise in excitement, Ginobili said, “For sure it’s exciting. I mean last year was exciting too in a different way. We had all unproven players, all our rookies, and we wanted to see what they were capable of doing. Now, with more responsibilities.”
Ginobili has recently taken a role in Gregg Popovich’s coaching staff but will be there in an unofficial capacity. He has been working on the development of rookie sensation – Victor Wembanyama.
In conversation with Parker, the Hall of Famer praised the young players and said, “Now adding Victor and Jeremy [Sochan] already becoming more of a man. More ready to play. So everybody’s fired up.”
The player went on to say that the city has become more bubbly thanks to the French player.
Jeremy Sochan and his relationship with Wembanyama
Jeremy Sochan has become a key player in the San Antonio Spurs starting lineup and impacts the game in several ways. Drafted as the 10th overall pick in 2022, the young player does it all for the team. He has elite defensive abilities, can rebound the ball, and his offense is getting better with every passing game. Though his numbers don’t pop out of the stat sheet, his presence on the court is definitely noticeable.
Sochan is also friends with the Spurs’ number one overall pick – Victor Wembanyama. With the Frenchman expected to break the league, their chemistry would only help the franchise.
In an interview, Wemby revealed his relationship with Sochan and mentioned how they share a common interest in soccer. Having grown up in Europe, they were big fans of soccer even though they supported different clubs. Wemby was a fan of Paris Saint-Germain while Sochan supported Arsenal.
The two played against each other long before they were in the NBA. This allowed Sochan to reach out to him before anyone else on the team. The Spurs fans would be excited to see both the European players lead the franchise to success.
