“Victor Wembanyama: The Future of French Basketball in the NBA Draft 2023”

Basket – NBA

Wembanyama arrives in the NBA, he will write history!

Published on April 23, 2023 at 12:35 p.m.

It was no longer a secret to anyone but it has now been made official by the main interested party: Victor Wembanyama will appear in the 2023 Draft. The interior of the Boulogne-Levallois Mets is promised first place in the latter and he could therefore achieve what no other tricolor had managed to do before him.

The hopes of French basketball rest on the shoulders of Victor Wembanyama. Billed by some as the future greatest player in the NBA, the tricolor giant is eagerly awaited in the North American league. The hype Wemby is total to USA and it took another turn on Friday since he finally formalized his registration for the Draft. « This is a year with a lot of good news for me. I first want to thank all the people who have been part of this epic, my coaches, my family. And I’m very excited to announce that I’m going to enter the 2023 Draft “, explained the interior of the Mets in the show NBA Today on ESPN. He is about to write the most historic page of French basketball in NBA.

Wembanyama will join the drafted club

Victor Wembanyama will therefore become, except cataclysm, the 44th French basketball player in history to be drafted. Promised to a more than bright future, he should have a better career than eleven of his predecessors. Indeed, since 1960, the date of the first tricolor drafted in NBAto know Jean-Claude Lefebvre in 64th position by the Minneapolis Lakersten other basketball players were recruited into the prestigious closed league without playing a single minute. Alain Digbeu (1997, 50e, Atlanta Hawks), Frederick Weiss (1999, 15e, New York Knicks), Paccelis Morlende (2003, 50e, Philadelphie Sixers), Livio Jean-Charles (2013, 28e, San Antonio Spurs), Louis Labeyrie (2014, 57e, Indiana Pacers), David Michineau (2016, 39e, New Orleans Pelicans), Isaïa Cordinier (2016, 44e, Atlanta Hawks), Mathias Lessort (2017, 50e, Philadelphie Sixers), Alpha Kaba (2017, 60e, Atlanta Hawks) et Juhann Begarin (2021, 45th, Boston Celtics) are the unfortunate extras on this list.

Among the French draftees who have had the opportunity to tread the American courts, Victor Wembanyama will join prestigious names like Tony Parker (2001, 28e, San Antonio Spurs), Joakim Noah (2007, 9e, Chicago Bulls), Rudy Gobert (2013, 27e, Denver Nuggets), Evan Fournier (2012, 20e, Denver Nuggets), Boris Diaw (2003, 21e, Atlanta Hawks), nando de colo (2009, 53rd, San Antonio Spurs) or even Nicolas Batum (2008, 25th, Houston Rockets). The last two French people drafted are Moussa Diabate (2022, 43e, Los Angeles Clippers) et Ousmane Dieng (2022, 11th, Oklahoma City Thunder). Despite all these names, none was first pick. The animal could well become.

Wembanyama number 1?

Everything suggests that Victor Wembanyama will be the first player chosen in the next Draft. The player of Mets completely overshadowed Scoot Henderson, the other suitor. If he were to be chosen first as expected, Victor Wembanyama would become the first Frenchman to achieve this. The tricolor record is still held by Killian Hayesdrafted in seventh position by the Detroit Pistons in 2020. Wemby now waiting for Lottery (May 16) to know the team that will have the first choice, probably the one that will recruit him.