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NBA

Wembanyama's Summer League done: What we learned from first two Summer League games

He has been the talk of the NBA offseason, and Victor Wembanyama finally made his Summer League debut. What have we learned about this year’s No. 1 pick?

Update:
He has been the talk of the NBA offseason, and Victor Wembanyama finally made his Summer League debut.  What have we learned about this year’s No. 1 pick?
ETHAN MILLERAFP

Sell out crowds, run-ins with celebrities, and non-stop media coverage. That has been what Victor Wembanyama’s first week as Spurs player has looked like. Oh, and he also played two games, showing signs of superstar potential from one game to the next.

It’s the Summer League and for the first time ever, even the casual NBA fan is pumped to watch. This is something called the Wemby effect. Previously, the Summer League barley got even a couple minutes of coverage on ESPN, or any of the sports shows but this year is different. This year the Summer League is primetime TV, the hottest ticket in Las Vegas, and the headline story each and every morning that Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs take to the court.

What have we learned?

We have learned a couple things already in this very limited sample size we have had. The first thing we have learned is that the 19 year old has an incredible ability to draw a crowd. At over 7′3″ he has a skill set that has never been seen in the league, it’s no surprise that all eyes are on the skinny frenchman. That’s why the Thomas & Mack Center was sold out on Friday, and Sunday as he went up against the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in back to back games.

Even before suiting up for the first time for the Spurs, Wemby was flooded with fans, cameras and non-stop attention since getting drafted in New York a few weeks ago. The hype around the former Metropolitans 92 superstar is well deserved. On Sunday we began to see why.

After an underwhelming debut on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets in which Wembanyama went 2/13 from the field, scoring nine points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing three assists while blocking five shots on the defensive end, he bounced back and and silenced a lot of doubters two days later. On Sunday, he scored 27 points, snatched 12 rebounds and blocked three shots as we got a glimpse of just how versatile the Frenchman can be.

Not ready?

There was no doubt an overreaction to Wembanyama’s post game statements after Friday’s disappointing debut when he told reporters he “didn’t know what he was doing out there.” While the sound clip is just what the doubters and the haters want to hear, it’s refreshing to hear from a young kid who has been surrounded by a media circus since he touched down in the U.S. just before the NBA Draft.

He hasn’t had much time with the team. He hasn’t had much time in the system, and he hasn’t really had much time to play basketball. All of that will change over time, but we saw a massive improvement from one game to the next. In the first game he said he needed to improve his conditioning and get just to the pace of play citing he was exhausted every time he was subbed out. That didn’t seem to be the case on Sunday against the Trail Blazers.

Summer League may not tell us everything we need to know about Wembanyama’s game, but one thing that we are learning about him is what he is like off the court.

Wemby winning hearts

For as little as we knew about the Frenchman’s game, we knew less about who Victor the person is. He probably done more interviews in the last month than he has done in his entire lifetime leading up to the draft. In every interview, he has been laid back, mild mannered and honest almost to a fault.

Even when he was on the wrong end of a semi celebrity scandal, he didn’t shy away from cameras. One of the Spurs security members was in a dust up with pop star Brittney Spears as she approached the seven-footer from behind looking talk to the No. 1 pick.

Of course, Wembanyama was going to have to face the media about something that he had nothing to do with, but he did so with class and didn’t hide from the microphones. Over the course of his career he will be front and center under the spotlight, and so far Wembanyama has done nothing but impress.

End of the Summer League?

He’s got a long way to go before he becomes a star in the NBA, and two Summer League games are going to make or break your career if you are the No. 1 overall pick in the draft but it seems as though Wemby is ready for the spotlight.

Reports out of Vegas claim that Wembanyama will sit out the remaining couple of games in Vegas, but one thing is for sure. After a crazy last month, the top pick in the draft is going to “disappear from the media for the next months” once his work is done in the Summer League circuit.