The hype has been nuclear for Victor Wembanyama, and a mediocre Summer League debut did not help his case for those who think the Spurs drafted a bust.
San Antonio’s No. 1 pick drew a sellout crowd at Thomas & Mack Center. Wembanyama has been hyped as a generational prospect, but his time in Las Vegas got off to a poor start when his security allegedly backhanded world pop star Brittney Spears — the security guard was not charged in the incident.
His on-court performance also wasn’t great. Wembanyama scored nine points on 2-for-13 shooting in 27 minutes and finished with eight rebounds, three assists and five blocks.
The 19-year-old showed flashes of his potential, but the hype around him meant he needs to be perfect on the court, otherwise the criticism and jokes will come his way.
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“Victor Wembanyama’s first quarter here in Las Vegas reminds me of Ante Zizic’s summer league debut,” The Athletic’s Jay King tweeted Friday. “Pretty clear immediately that Wembanyama is gassed after playing a long season overseas and just doesn’t have what it takes to thrive in the NBA game.”
King could have been sarcastic in his tweet and just wanted to shout out a 2016 Boston Celtics first-round pick. But being compared to Zizic is not where you want to be in your career, even if it was a joke.
There certainly are folks who genuinely are taking a Summer League performance as if it was a real NBA game. Even the Spears stans are going after Wembanyama for an incident he wasn’t directly involved in.
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People who enjoy sappy quotes tend to say the key to success is failure. But fans seemed to take the opposite attitude with Wembanyama after Friday night.
Featured image via Lucas Peltier/USA TODAY Sports Images
