“A day I will always remember”: Victor Vembanyama’s first NBA victory

Victor Vembanyama roused the crowd at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio and never sat down again. Having long struggled in a game in which he accumulated failures, especially with 3 points (0/6), the French prodigy finally achieved a very high score in the fourth quarter and overtime that made the difference for his San Antonio Spurs team against “Houston” (126 points). -122).

Blocks from elsewhere, spectacular dunks and, above all, a consistent presence that allowed his team to come back into the game and then win: The No. 1 overall pick in the last draft won his first NBA game. The crowd, already subdued, was definitely capsized. Highlights of his meeting will be broadcast in the coming days on all social networks. “This is the victory I wanted, I wanted it very bad,” he said after the match.

However, for a long time, Wemby searched a lot. Rotating between several positions (power forward, defensive) during the match, he started by scoring his team’s first five points, including an alley-oop snatched… from the hands of his teammate Jeremy Sochan. He then fades away, persistently trying to score three points but failing.

You’ll have to wait until the last quarter to see how it lights up. “All my life I’ve preferred the end of matches,” he explains after the game. At this moment I feel better, but this is also an area for improvement: I have to bring more to the team from the very beginning. »

“Sacrifice for the Team”

No one will blame him if he saves his most spectacular moves for the end of matches. While being decisive. With five minutes left, he brought his side, who had trailed by ten points moments earlier, back into the match with a reverse dunk, a counter to prop Alperen Sengun, and then two more, in quick succession, on the wing. same player, Jabari Smith Jr. “Are you serious, Victor Wembanyama? “, the official NBA account tweeted.

“This is a kind of sacrifice for the team, there is no other choice,” he explained after the match. “Those counters came out of nowhere and changed the complexion of the game,” admits teammate Tre Jones. Defensively he was everywhere, and in attack what he achieved speaks for itself. Everything seems easy to him. He is a winner, he is the best in important moments. »

“Wemby, Wemby” rise from the stands. The Frenchman clenches his fist and shows all his rage. Twenty seconds before the end of regulation, with his team still trailing by 2 points, he took the ball, got under the circle and went to level the score, all alone, like a senior. In extra time, he continues to be the one who makes the difference for his team. However, he also suffered the black wrath of his red-faced coach Gregg Popovich for forgetting the action. “I made a rookie mistake,” he says. I forgot the action it caused. His yelling at me was 100% legal and I apologize for that mistake. »

No impact on the score. Wemby finished his match with 21 points (7/19) in just 30 minutes on the floor. He also had 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. He can then return to the locker room, high-five the fans gathered along the barriers, and then hug his father.

“I almost wanted to celebrate, even though it was just a victory,” he says. But I will always remember this day. I love winning, that’s what I love most in life. Back in the locker room, Pop. (Gregg Popovich) said that this is my first victory in the NBA, and I am very proud of it. This is the first time, but there is much more to come. I’m already planning my next meeting in Los Angeles. (vs. Clippers Sunday night), an iconic city that I love, one of my favorites in the United States. »

“Good luck to the opposing team”

The Texas coach, for his part, does not shy away from the pleasure of having access to French talent. “He’s a competitor,” he says. We know that he will be determined and will always do everything to win. ” His teammates Zach Collins and Devin Vassell use the same expression when describing the evening at Wemby: “Big time! (Great moment) ! » “He dominated, despite the fact that he was into each other all evening,” Collins admires.

“Nothing gets to him, he’s exactly the player we need because it’s infectious,” admits Vassell. There were times when I sat and said to myself: Wow, good luck to the opposing team stopping him.. “He sits, everyone else stands, and in the middle is Victor Vembanyama, the winner and already the charismatic leader of his team.