Tony Parker had made Victor Wembanyama his foal at ASVEL. But the new Spurs strongman decided otherwise, so their relationship may have been impacted.
All’s well That ends well ? By joining the San Antonio Spurs in the wake of a historic draft which placed for the first time in history a French player in the position of choice n ° 1 of the famous NBA selection, Victor Wembanyama obviously found himself walking in the footsteps of Tony Parker, star of the Texan franchise whose jersey, retired, now adorns the ceiling of the hall of San Antonio.
Tony Parker’s reaction was naturally highly anticipated. If the two men posed together during an evening spent together watching the latest performances of the France U19 team, thetheir relationship has been questioned a lot in recent months, “TP” proving to be visibly disappointed by the choice made by the young prodigy. Not that of San Antonio but that of his previous club, the Boulogne-Levallois Mets.
During the 2021-2022 season, Parker integrated the young French nugget from Nanterre into his ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne team. We imagined the duo heading for the NBA but the young tricolor surprised his world by choosing, after a single season crowned with a title of champion of France, to join Boulogne-Levallois at the start of the 2022-2023 season.
Parker: ‘I don’t know if he has really improved’
“I know it was not an easy time for him and for me, but in the end I know he only wants the best for my future. He understood my decision. I know I took the best decision but I am grateful for the time spent at ASVEL”, had detailed “Wemby” after his departure. His choice had not then been fully understood by Tony Parker.
“We started on a two-year project, (…) and next season, we were going to move up a gear and do everything for him in year 2. (…) We would have made him play 30 minutes per game next season”, he commented in the columns of L’Equipe. “That was the plan, to give him responsibility and that he grows up. That’s what he was promised. That’s why I don’t understand.”
In mid-April 2023, the ex-leader of the Blues had also issued some criticisms of the choice of his former protege. “The regret is that I don’t know if he has really improved this season and if he is really having fun playing only one game a week. The Euroleague would have prepared him well for next season. , like Luka Doncic, who won it with Real Madrid. That’s what I would have liked Victor to do”, he assured Progress at the time.
The hatchet was visibly buried and Parker warned the Americans in an interview given to KSAT News after the debut of the prodigy in the Summer League in mid-July. “I just find that sometimes the expectations are unrealistic. But he will clearly change the game, he judges. “We have never seen that before, a player of his size, with all his qualities. I just really hope people are going to be patient, because it’s going to be a while before he dominates the NBA and brings us a title.”