In his second Summer League game on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Victor Wembanyama grabbed control. The Portland Trail Blazers triumphed 85-80 at the Thomas & Mack Centre, so it wasn’t quite enough to give the San Antonio Spurs the victory, but the French sensation appeared much more at ease on the court.
In addition to his 27 points, Wembanyama had 12 rebounds and three blocks. He made 2-of-4 from behind the arc and 9-of-14 from the field.
Wembanyama was the first player ever selected first overall from France when the Spurs selected him with the first overall pick in the NBA Draught last month. Since LeBron James, the 7-foot-4 centre has been hailed as the NBA’s top potential. He just completed an international campaign in which he led the French LNB Pro A League in points, rebounds, and blocks, earning him the MVP award.
When Wembanyama first arrived in Las Vegas, he was thrown into the limelight and even got into a small argument with Britney Spears. NBA superstars like Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were present for his Summer League debut on Friday, which was the second time in Summer League history that a session had been sold out in advance. Wembanyama continued to warm up in real time during the game ahead of his on ESPN.
Wembanyama’s debut, however, was a tad underwhelming. With eight rebounds and five blocks, he only managed to score nine points. He had a field goal percentage of 2-of-13, or around 15%. But Sunday was totally different.
Wembanyama started the game slowly as usual, but so did everyone else. After one quarter, the Trail Blazers were up 19-8. Wembanyama then made a mid-range jumper to score to open the quarter after missing a pair of free throw attempts.
Wembanyama didn’t start to appear at ease until the second quarter. He had no trouble controlling the floor and concluded the half with 11 points, significantly exceeding his point total from Friday. He once performed a block on one end of a play and then promptly slammed down a dunk on the other.