Martin Lange // Photo credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP 11:16 a.m., October 25, 2023
The defending champions, the Denver Nuggets, beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. This Wednesday night, it was Victor Wembanyama's big debut with his San Antonio Spurs. They face the Dallas Mavericks at 3:30 a.m. French time. In just a few weeks, the prodigy has already put the land of basketball at his feet."A successful season would be a season that is getting closer to the goal of winning a title. But I have no doubts about our ability to win." Blind passes, between-the-legs dribbles and devastating dunks. In just four preseason games, Victor Wembanyama has already conquered the NBA. Class actions and statistics too with more than 19 points per game punctuated above all by unfailing confidence.
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"He's already the local star"
After his arrival, like the Messiah, the Frenchman worked all summer out of sight. And since it reappeared in early October, San Antonio has been ablaze. Benjamin Moubeche is one of three French journalists who have moved to Texas to observe the phenomenon.
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"They're completely crazy, they're all in. For a practice match two weeks ago, there were 14,000 in the room. This was twice as many as the previous year. He's already the local star," the journalist said. To say, the star even has her own song of her own. In Dallas, the opponent of the day, the players trained with telescopic arms to mimic the insane wingspan of the prodigy: 2.43 m.