Wembanyama happy to headed to Spurs

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2023 NBA Draft Lottery

Victor Wembanyama was not quoting Ice Cube, he is genuinely happy to be headed to San Antonio.

The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery and the rights to select Wembanyama, the presumptive No.1 pick (even if team GM Brian Wright gave lip service to the idea of keeping an open mind at his press conference). Once again, the Spurs have landed a generational talent.

The Spurs have a deep connection to France, where Wembanyama plays for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans — a team where former Spur Boris Diaw is the team president.

However, the deepest connection is that the best player France ever produced — Tony Parker — spent most of his Hall of Fame career with the Spurs. Parker celebrated the lottery by Tweeting a picture of a young Wembanyama in a Parker Spurs’ jersey.

There are other reasons this is a good landing spot for Wembanyama. This is a franchise and city used to dealing with international players, and it is not a massive media market where the pressure can feel exponentially higher. This is not a team expected to win big his first couple of seasons there, and he gets to learn under one of the great player development coaches the game has ever seen in Gregg Popovich.

This is a win for the Spurs.

And it was a good day for Wembanyama.

Here is more on the Spurs

San Antonio Spurs win NBA Draft Lottery, will be home to Wembanyama NBA Draft Lottery odds, what winning could mean for each team PBT Podcast: Playoffs second round, All-NBA and NBA Draft Lottery talk

French connection: Wembanyama happy to headed to Spurs originally appeared on NBCSports.com

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/french-connection-wembanyama-happy-headed-171932189.html?src=rss

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-05-17 17:19:32

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