Why the Spurs are a perfect match for French prodigy Victor Wembanyama

French basketball prodigy Victor Wembanyama is officially joining the San Antonio Spurs after being drafted No. 1 overall on Thursday.

Hailing from French basketball club Metropolitans 92, the 19-year-old player, who was just named Most Valuable Player in the French LNB league, couldn’t have hoped for a better club to call home.

“San Antonio … [comes with] a history and a culture of winning like none other,” Wembanyama told Qatar-based sports channel beIN Sports last month, referring to the five-time NBA champions whose past icons include Frenchman Tony Parker.

The San Antonio Spurs have demonstrated over the past thirty years that they are one of the best teams of the North American basketball league.

Spurs’ ‘winning culture’

In the NBA, the league’s worst-performing teams get first picks in the draft, which allows them access to the best young basketball players.

With the second-worst record this past season (20 wins to 62 losses), the San Antonio Spurs won first pick after winning the May 16 draft lottery.

But unlike other teams also granted top spots in the draft, San Antonio boast an impressive record, having brought home NBA titles in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.

The Texan club has also participated in the playoffs – the championship finals – for twenty-two consecutive years between 1998 and 2019, an NBA record (shared with the Philadelphia 76ers of the 1950s and 1960s).

“Normally, there are cycles in the NBA with good periods that last a few years, followed by periods of rebuilding, so to stay twenty-two consecutive seasons in the playoffs, with the goal of winning the title every year, is incredible,” said former France team captain Boris Diaw, who won his first NBA championship with the Spurs in 2014 during his time at the club.

“And even though San Antonio have been going through this rebuilding period for a few seasons now, this winning culture is still there,” said Diaw.

Over the years, the Spurs have demonstrated their expertise in nurturing promising young players who go on to become basketball stars.

World-famous NBA players such as David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard have all marked the club’s history.

“[Wembanyama] will perhaps be under less pressure than he might have been with other clubs,” said Diaw. “The Spurs know how to protect their players to help them grow as best they can.”

Legendary Coach Pop

One key to Wembanyama’s potential success with the Spurs is head coach Gregg Popovich.

Widely regarded as one of the top coaches in basketball history, Popovich has been on the Texas team’s bench since 1996, making him not only the longest-serving coach in the NBA, but also the longest-tenured among all coaches in the four major North American sports leagues (American soccer, baseball, basketball and ice hockey).

Popovich’s decades-long presence with the Spurs has allowed him to implement a certain style and method to help train the club’s players.

“[Wembanyama] will have one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA”, said Parker, the Spurs’ former point guard, last month on French radio station RTL.

Popovich, also known as “Coach Pop”, played a decisive role in the making of four-time NBA champion Parker, who was awarded Finals MVP in 2007 and will soon become the first Frenchman to enter the NBA Hall of Fame.

“He’s a coach who’s both tough, because he’s very demanding, and also very close to his players,” said Diaw.

“I remember spending Christmas Eve at his place with Tony [Parker] in 2002, when I wasn’t playing in the NBA yet,” Diaw recalled. “It surprised me that a player would spend Christmas at his coach’s house. Then, at some point during the evening, I realize that Pop and Tony have disappeared. I look around the house. And there I find them in a room watching videos with Pop showing Tony what he’d done wrong in the previous game. Even on Christmas Eve, he wanted Tony to progress. That pretty much sums up his character.”

Popovich is also known to adapt his coaching style to players’ strengths and weaknesses as well as their preferences.

The coach is unlikely to force a tall player such as Wembanyama to play centre despite his impressive height –Wembanyama measures 7ft 5 with shoes on, making him one of the league’s tallest players – because of his preference for playing power forward or further away from the basket as a point guard.

Despite nearing the end of his contract at age 74, Popovich is expected to stay on with the club for a few more seasons, according to US sports magazine Sports Illustrated.

A club welcoming international players

Popovich is not the only reason that the Spurs may prove to be the perfect match for Wembanyama. The Texan club has long cultivated a welcoming atmosphere for its talent from overseas.

“In San Antonio, there’s a certain understanding of the players and the style of play that you can have internationally,” said Diaw.

“But the difference in their approach is mainly on a personal level. They have an understanding of different cultures and help the players adapt to life in the United States,” he added.

A total of five French players have sported Spurs colours to date, including Parker (2001-2018), Diaw (2012-2016), Ian Mahinmi (2007-2010), Nando De Colo (2012-2014) and Joffrey Lauvergne (2017-2018).

Other international players such as Argentinians Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, Slovenian Rasho Nesterovic, Brazilian Tiago Splitter, Australian Patty Mills and Spaniard Pau Gasol have also donned Spurs jerseys.

Popovich is also known for his leniency on letting foreign players participate in international competitions, while other NBA coaches and clubs are more reluctant to do so.

“International players’ desire to play for their country is supported by the club’s staff and management,” said Diaw.

During their time with the Spurs, neither Parker nor Diaw were pressured to rest during the summer instead of playing for the French national team.

This means that Wembanyama may be available to play at the World Cup (August 25-September 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia) with France despite his upcoming move to San Antonio.

This article is adapted from the original in French.