Relations between Spurs and France are in good shape, and The Athletic reveals that Vincent Collet and the staff of the French team will go to San Antonio at the end of January. As part of his usual tour to meet French NBAers, the Blues coach asked Gregg Popovich to stay longer than planned in Texas, and not just to meet Victor Wembanyama.
“We want to understand their organization because we want to use certain things to bring them to the national team” explains Collet, who will be accompanied by Boris Diaw. “We want to observe, learn and maybe use things that we might discover from NBA teams.”
A real relationship of trust
In the past, the coach of the French team has already come to San Antonio several times, to meet Tony Parker and Diaw when they were playing. We also remember that he was an assistant with the Cavaliers in the summer league.
“We have good relations with them, thanks to Tony (Parker) and Boris (Diaw),” recalls Jean-Pierre Suitat, president of the FFBB. “(Victor) wanted to play with the national team before the selection. He spoke to Vincent and said: “Yes, coach, don’t worry about me, I will arrive”. But he is young, and has not really realized what happened during and after the selection. And to make sure he's ready for his first (NBA season), we understand why he didn't play in the World Cup. We understand that, and that's why we don't put pressure on the players. What we want is for it to be there later. With the San Antonio Spurs, we have a relationship of mutual trust. »
A relationship that opens the door wide to Victor Wembanyama's participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
