The beginnings of Victor Wembanyama in the NBA universe left a mixed impression, but the first choice of the last Draft especially takes the temperature, in addition to integrating into this world which will become his daily life.
Yesterday, he was on the same stage as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Isiah Thomas at the all-new ‘NBA Con’ to discuss the evolution of the game with the two league legends.
“Currently, I am only a rookie”, recalled Wemby. “I haven’t played a single game (in the NBA) yet and I have everything to learn. The truth is that I didn’t know what I was doing and in the next games I probably won’t know what I’m doing either. But that will come with time and hopefully we will be ready for the season. But yeah, I’m like a kid right now. I am still a child. But I’m ready to learn. »
And for KAJ, this is the most important.
“You have things to learn, but you can see that you are a smart young man, and you will get there. »
“The challenge is learning how best to contribute to the winning effort. This is what you have to learn to do with your qualities”
While Victor Wembanyama said he enjoyed seeing so many legends pitchside on his Summer League debut, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was amused by how the game evolved, especially when he saw ‘Wemby’ come up the pitch dribbling like a playmaker.
“Isiah, we were over-coached, that’s all I have to say”thus dropped the former leading scorer in the league, overtaken by LeBron James this season, triggering laughter from the audience. “We were over-coached. If I had tried to bring the ball up, in the next few seconds I would have been sitting next to the coach and he would have said to me: ‘If you do that again, your ass is going to be full of splinters until that you do the right thing and give the ball to the playmaker to play this or that system. »
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar especially noted that the “brutality” of the game is no longer the same as it was in its time and that it is ” a good thing “ for the French. He also asked him to take advantage of the meetings he will have and not to forget those who have paved the way before him, reminding him that in his time, players had to negotiate contracts with car salesmen during the been to make some extra cash…
And while Victor Wembanyama sought advice from the six-time champion and six-time MVP on how to lead Spurs back to the title, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalled that it was all about learning.
“The challenge is learning how best to contribute to the winning effort”, concluded the caption. “That’s what you have to learn to do with your qualities. And you’ll basically find out what it’s all about in preseason, and then you’ll understand more and more about it.”
