Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama stole the show in France’s Olympic warm-up game.
PARIS (AP) —Victor Wembanyama stole the show with spectacular one-handed dunks as France began preparations for their bid for a gold medal in men’s basketball at the Paris Olympics.
In a promising sign of things to come, Kia NBA Rookie of the Year He was all smiles after his powerful two-handed dunks in the 96-46 win over Turkey on Wednesday night. He put on a good show, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing six rebounds in front of a sellout crowd of about 5,500 in Rouen.
It was the first of six warm-up matches for France ahead of the Games from July 26 to August 11.
“Victor played a ‘Wemby game’. He was imposing in defense and varied things in attack. It’s something we’ve never really experienced in the French team,” said captain Nicolas Batum. “He’s a great asset for us, that we’ll be able to use in many situations.”
The 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs star also paired well with veteran Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in their first outing together for France. Gobert, 32, was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year for record fourth timewith Wembanyama second in the vote.
“There’s still work to be done,” Batum said, thinking ahead to the Olympics. “But having two big names (Wembanyama and Gobert) helps a lot.”
The defense of new Washington Wizards point guard Bilal Coulibaly was also impressive.
France lost 87-82 to the United States in the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics, but hopes are high that coach Vincent Collet’s team can win gold on home soil. France is considered one of the strongest teams alongside the United States, Canada, Serbia and world champions Germany.
Last week, Wembanyama was asked about the prospect of a new France-USA finalagainst players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
“I’m looking forward to playing them, it’s going to be a very interesting game,” he said in Paris. “As a basketball player, it’s also a dream to play against Team USA and even against all these players, all these legends.”
France’s first opponent in Olympic Group B will be the winner of the final qualifying tournament later this week. They will then face Japan and Germany in the 12-team tournament in the northern city of Lille.
French basketball enjoys immense popularity thanks to the meteoric rise of Wembanyama and the emergence of new talents.
The first two picks in this year’s NBA draft are French — Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks) and Alexandre Sarr (Washington Wizards) — with Tidjane Salaün drafted No. 6 by the Charlotte Hornets.
France joins the United States as the only country to have three players drafted in the top 10 of an NBA draft. Pacome Dadiet (New York Knicks) and Melvin Ajinca (Dallas Mavericks) are the five French players selected in total.
