Victor Wembanyama Opens Up About Olympics Berth: ‘The Most Powerful Experience’

Victor Wembanyama recounts his experience at the Paris Summer Olympics and how it shaped his preparation for Year 2 in the NBA.

“It’s hard to win games at the Olympics,” he said ESPN. “But it’s very easy to lose games.”

Wemby entered the NBA with a huge amount of expectation and pressure thrown at him, but he never dared to run away.

The Olympics were a whole new ballgame, however.

“It was probably the most difficult games in my life,” said Wembanyama about the Olympics. “I felt really lucky to have the opportunity to live those experiences. I also felt proud. During all the elimination games, for 40 minutes we were stuck thinking about one thing: the next game. As a team, it’s building something to have this level of concentration, all working toward the same goal. The emotion is too much to contain. You should scream or cry softly. It’s too much to contain.”

Spurs coach, Greg Popovich, thinks that Wembayama will be better with his full experience with France.

“He gradually improved in the Olympics and ended up being scary,” Popovich said. “His aggressiveness was a big thing, and physical. He understands what it takes, what he’s going to get, and what he has to give back to withstand that kind of thing. FIBA is very aggressive. So, it was a wonderful petri dish for him, so to speak. To be able to do that every day and every game, that’s where he really wakes up as it goes on. He scored 26 points against Team USA in the finals. It was like the David Robinson thing where I didn’t know he had 26 points. It was the same with Victor because he can do many different things.”

With Year 2 under way, Wemby says not much has changed in terms of pressure and the goal remains the same: to win.

“What I expect, I am doing now that I have managed all the other years,” said Wembanyama. “I just focus on my real jobs. I can say that I am glad that these skills are being recognized. My emphasis is always on winning and making my teammates better. It’s no different than years past. It’s just that last year, what we expected was learning and self-awareness. This year, we expect to win.”

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