Spurs' Wemby Sits: 'I Had So Much S*** Going On!'
San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama is relieved to get back to basketball after the early drama in Las Vegas.
"I had so much s*** going on with the draft and with the media," Wembanyama said. "Two days ago was my first game — it made sense ... Before [Sunday], I had just two practices and one game, I was just getting going."
He finished with a team-high 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 12 rebounds and three blocks, but San Antonio fell 85-80 to the Portland Trail Blazers inside the Thomas & Mack Center.
Although disappointed by the final score, Wembanyama had a bounce-back performance during the Spurs' second Summer League contest in Las Vegas.
Wembanyama's play against the Trail Blazers was a 180 from his Summer League debut that labeled the French Phenom a bust after one game.
He credited exhaustion for his rough play against the Charlotte Hornets Friday night. But for the first time since his arrival in the States, Wembanyama concentrated solely on basketball.
Basketball was less than 50 percent of Wembanyama's schedule, and he could not stand when other intangibles got in the way.
Media requests had bombarded the 19-year-old rookie prospect since the Spurs made him the No. 1 pick during the 2023 NBA Draft. And 48 hours before making his Spurs debut, Wembanyama became the subject of the tabloids after his security had an incident with pop legend Britney Spears.
The distractions led to Wembanyama scoring nine points on 2-of-12 shooting against the Hornets. His most embarrassing play came at the 5:17 mark of the third quarter when Kai Jones converted an alley-oop dunk over the top of his 7-foot-4 stature.
"I just wanna hoop, workout and lift," Wembanyama said. "This is my life. I understand that every No. 1 pick has to go through this, but this would make me better for the future."
The Spurs have three Summer League games left before the postseason tournament. And after his bounce-back performance against the Trail Blazers, Wembanyama isn't sure if he will play the remaining games in Las Vegas.
A meeting with coach Gregg Popovich determined whether or not Wembanyama will suit up Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. he will not; they'll shut him down. But the focus will be about basketball now, as much as possible.
The next few months will allow Wembanyama to decompress after a long and grueling schedule that began in late September. But more importantly, a chance to rejuvenate his mind ahead of his first rookie campaign as the new face of the Spurs.
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