Gregg Popovich has gladly taken up the task of mentoring Victor Wembanyama, who has been widely touted as the greatest NBA prospect ever. The monumental hype around the young French sensation before the 2023 NBA Draft could only be compared to the noise surrounding rookie LeBron James in 2003. As a result, many had expressed their concerns about the 19-year-old being subjected to so much scrutiny and pressure so early on in his career.
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However, Popovich relieved people of such concerns by explaining how adept Wemby is at dealing with the hype and the pressure of expectations. The French international has had a decent start to the 2023-24 season, averaging 15.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in the three games he has played so far. Pop recently stated that Wembanyama’s European heritage helps him ignore all the noise and focus on his craft.
A recent post on the r/nba subreddit highlighted Gregg Popovich’s quotes from a preview of the upcoming Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs matchup. As per the NBA.com article, Pop talked about how Wemby deals with all the commotion as a typical European, “A lot of these places (in the U.S.) are new to him [Wembanyama] but he’s a very inquisitive young man. He’s from Europe. They’re a lot more cultured than we are. They’re more civil than we are. They travel, speak languages.”
“It’s not like he’s a dumbstruck young kid. He’s pretty worldly. This hype has gone on for a very long time. It’s old hat for him. He doesn’t even notice it,” the 74-year-old added. Despite Wemby’s wisdom and talent, the Spurs HC is giving the youngster some tough love to prepare him for the battles to come. Wembanyama has been quite receptive and accepting of Pop’s directives because he knows that that’s the quickest way to succeed in the NBA.
Victor Wembanyama is not the first European star to dazzle the NBA
The talent pool of basketball stars coming from Europe is increasing by every passing year. In fact, the league is currently dominated by superstars who hail from European countries. The 2023 NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic is from Serbia. Other dominant stars in the league, like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Dennis Schroder, among others, are all from Europe.
Talking about foreign stars, coach Gregg Popovich has also trained some great overseas talent. Argentine star Manu Ginobili and Wemby’s own countryman Tony Parker were core members of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty that once dominated the NBA. Therefore, Pop is probably the most well-suited to mould Wembanyama into a superstar with all-time potential.
