Victor Wembanyama is French, and that’s a blessing for all basketball fans in France.

He will not only represent our flag in the NBA, but also in major international competitions.

Boris Diaw explained what would have been different about him if he were American.

When we think of Victor Wembanyama and the reasons that make him a unique player in the history of the NBA, we think first and foremost of his extraordinary physique.

He is 2m24 tall, which is already impressive, but he is also very mobile and very flexible, a rarity for a man of this size.

This is what allows him to dribble, attempt stepbacks, get around defenses… In other words, what allows him to stand out from the crowd.

But the Spurs’ number 1 is not just that, since he is also endowed with great game intelligence.

He proved it during the Olympic Games on certain sequences, he who managed to find quite impressive passing angles to serve his teammates.

He is also a defensive monster who knows when to go up on the counter, when to help his partners, when to switch on screens, and it is for this reason that some see him chaining DPOYs in the future.

Boris Diaw talks about Victor Wembanyama’s training
How to explain this? Boris Diaw, who knows him well thanks to his proximity to the Spurs and thanks to his role as General Manager of the French team, has just spoken on the subject in Matthieu Stefani’s podcast.

For him, Victor Wembanyama’s talent would come partly from the French training system.

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A player like Victor Wembanyama, if he were American and had done the High School, NCAA, etc. curriculum, he would always have been the best on his team. Whereas there, the first times he played professionally with Nanterre, he played a few minutes and he had to learn humility.

He had to learn to position himself, to be with his teammates.

He was not the star. European players generally arrive with this baggage that allows them to be a team player immediately.

For Boris Diaw, the main quality of European players is knowing how to blend into a collective.

When Victor Wembanyama took his first steps with Nanterre, he was not yet a franchise player and therefore had to do the dirty work to help his team.

If he were American, he might not have had this sense of sacrifice.

If he were American, Victor Wembanyama would have been considered a huge superstar since his teenage years and would perhaps have been more selfish on the pitch.

So we can thank the French team for his current level.