The whole world is talking about Victor Wembanyama. After dropping 37 points in his first exhibition match this week, the world got a full glimpse of the basketball specimen for themselves and he did not disappoint.
Wembanyama was so good, in fact, that the race for next summer’s top pick is already being described as competitive as all of the lottery teams are expected to pursue ways of adding Vic to their squad.
To get there, though, he’ll have to stay healthy, and 7’2″ unicorns like Victor don’t have a very good track record for staying on the court. It’s why, according to Wembanyama’s agent, NBA scouts are calling him to encourage shutting Wemby down until the draft.
Victor Wembanyama’s Agent Responds To Latest Development In Client’s NBA Career
On Wednesday, Bouna Ndiaye (Victor’s agent) made it very clear that he has no intention of asking him to sit. According to Ndiaye, his client wouldn’t consider it, anyway.
(via ESPN):
As NBA executives consider the transformative impact 7-foot-4 French prospect Victor Wembanyama’s performance on Tuesday could impose on the NBA’s tanking and trade market this season, his agent insists that there’s no plan to listen to some team executives who suggest shutting down the projected No. 1 pick until the 2023 NBA draft in June.
“NBA people are telling me to shut him down, and we are not going to shut him down,” Bouna Ndiaye told ESPN on Wednesday. “If we came with that kind of talk to [Wembanyama], he will look at us and say, ‘What are you talking about?’ He’ll never agree to that. He wants to compete and get better. With Victor, it’s basketball first and everything else second. He was so pissed off that he lost.”
“We came to expose Victor to everyone, and teach him what the next 15 years of his life will look like in terms of managing expectations and the attention that’s coming his way,” Ndiaye continued. “We came for learning. We want him to be the best he can be. The next game he may struggle. He needs to learn how to be consistent. Repeat, be better, learn.”
It’s still too early to tell if this level of play is sustainable for Victor, but he certainly seems to have the right mindset about it.
Instead of playing for himself and focusing on his own NBA dreams, he is continuing to work, hone his craft, and be there for his team amid a growing spotlight.
