It’s not a week like any other for Victor Wembanyama. The kid from Chesnay returns to the lands of his youth. But this time, everything has changed. It’s in the NBA star’s costume. From a franchise player who comes to promote his team and the great North American League. In two years, the evolution is crazy, the UFO so promising has passed into yet another dimension. But it’s not that surprising. Well, especially for those who had the chance to know him during his young years in the Paris region.
From Chesnay-Versailles to Boulogne-Levallois, of course via Nanterre and INSEP, Victor Wembanyama, who also spent a short season at ASVEL, built himself in the Paris region. He grew up there until his long-awaited departure at age 19 for the NBA. And he has shaped this very atypical profile of a basketball player capable of reigning over the basketball planet. “Many people are surprised (by his progress) but I, and others who have had the chance to see all the work he does on a daily basis, are not surprised by what he is becoming“, launched this week Philippe Da Silva, the coach of Nanterre 92, who remembers a young man of 16 years who “always wanted to do more“.
He was a good kid, intelligent, and really happy.
A pure product of the Paris region, “Wemby” has obviously left an indelible mark in all the clubs which were lucky enough to welcome him. And it’s not just a question of extraordinary skills. “What struck me about Victor, from his first training, was his smile and his extremely jovial attitude.explains Frédéric Donnadieu, the president of Nanterre and Wembanyama’s first coach at the club where the Spurs star played from 10 to 17 years old. He was a kid who felt good about himself, intelligent, and really happy, happy to play, he adapted really quickly to the other kids on the team. In one training session, he felt like he was part of the club“.
The memories are also appreciable for Jean-Aimé Toupane. The coach of the French women’s team, who coached the French giant during a few matches with INSEP during a season where he also played with Nanterre, was also marked by the state of mind of the young French team. . “Beyond this atypical profile, it was above all his passion that struck me. He was interested in the discussions we had. He was a boy who had great human and listening skills. And with his teammates, he didn’t take himself for anyone else. It really ticked all the boxes. I said to myself: ‘ah, I really wish I had trained him longer’“.
-When people discovered it in Las Vegas, it made me laugh
A real pleasure to coach on a daily basis, Victor Wembanyama was also a pleasure in his mastery of basketball obviously. Because from a very young age, he already had this explosive combination of size and skills that makes him so unique. “What also obviously impressed me was its size – fine coordination ratio.still remembers Frédéric Donnadieu. When people discovered him in Las Vegas, it made me laugh because in fact, he carried out actions that he was already doing as kids back home with more waste of course. It was innate to him. (..) What must be understood is that Victor, obviously, is not at this level only because of his size. It’s a whole package that makes it unique and above all at a very high level.“.
Unique both for his skills and his mentality. But Wembanyama was also able to benefit from trainers who let him flourish to make the most of his off-the-charts style. “I allowed him to play like a kid because that’s what he liked to do. And I didn’t want to restrict him. I remember a final in 2014 against Mulhouse. At the end, he came back the ball and wants to dribble between the legs and there, he misses and the others score in stride. But it was our guiding principle to allow him to take the steps one after the other. I could never tell him, you remind me of such and such a player”, remembers Frédéric Donnadieu.
Today, his former trainers and clubs are pleased with his career. “It’s a source of immense pride. And a daydream to have had such a player. It’s a big treatwelcomes the president of Nanterre again. I have the weakness to believe that we also contributed to it, even if I have the humility to say that Victor would have also succeeded elsewhere because he is exceptional. But we knew how to put the right coaches in so that he could progress and he also had the teammates for that.“. Thanks to all this, France today has a global phenomenon which is preparing to delight the public of Paris. Its public.
