Everything’s good. Everything has been said about Tony Parker and Victor Wembanyama in recent weeks. It must be said that the silence of “TP” after the Draft of “Wemby” became deafening. He was conspicuous by his absence at a dinner where David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Sean Elliott preached the good word to the new darling of Spurs. All until this beautiful message last Monday, on The Players’ Tribune. “Congratulations, I’m very happy for you,” said the four-time NBA champion. And to add: “I hope you will change basketball for the better. Now it’s up to you to bring us a title (smile).
It must be said that Parker had already spoken of Wembanyama just before the Draft, explaining for example to RTL that the native of Chesnay has “incredible talent. He is a player that we have never seen in basketball, to be 2.21m tall and to move like a leader. We have never seen that”. But as “Wemby” turned his back on Asvel in 2022 and could quickly supplant Parker at the top of French basketball and in San Antonio, some have imagined a falling out between the two men, where at least the former 41-year-old star had it bad.
In the end, much ado about nothing? In any case, Tony Parker received his successor in the Spurs tunic on Sunday, at his home in San Antonio, where he will obviously be spending the holidays with his family. In a photo relayed by “TP” on social networks, in this case in a story on Instagram, we see the two men seated, watching a basketball match on a computer, undoubtedly the final (lost) des Bleuets in the U19 World Cup final against Spain. “Look who’s visiting today! Victor, welcome to San Antonio”, ignites the 2013 champion, relaying other photos on which the first Frenchman number 1 of the Draft poses, all smiles, with his two toddlers, Liam and Josh.
Signing a two-year contract in San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama, 19, will make his debut under his new colors at the Summer League in Las Vegas. He gave up participating in the 2023 World Cup (August 25-September 10) in recent days. “A necessary sacrifice,” he assured.