The San Antonio Spurs have long been an example of greatness in the NBA, especially when Tony Parker was at the helm. The Hall of Fame point guard helped the Spurs win four NBA championships and is one of the greatest players in franchise history. So with Victor Wembanyama being heralded as the Spurs new franchise guy, it's safe to say that Tony Parker knows what a franchise player looks like.
Parker played alongside David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard during his Spurs tenure. During a recent interview on Yahoo Sports, Tony Parker gave his take on how he sees Victor Wembanyama's Spurs career ending up.
“There's nothing I can tell him. He's ready. . .He's not bothered by the pressure or the expectations, he's a little like LeBron [James]. The only one that can compare with so much expectation before he arrived is LeBron James,” Parker said. “Victor, the way he played his rookie season with the Spurs, he was unbelievable. So I hope it translates with a lot of championships for the Spurs, and I hope it will translate with a lot of medals for French basketball.”
Parker also spoke about the toll it can take on Wembanyama's body playing a full 82 game NBA season an possibly playoffs, and then suiting up for France during international competition in the NBA offseason.
“Can you play 15-20 years and play the whole year with the Spurs and then every summer with the national team,” Parker said. “Can you do that with that body, we've never saw it. That's the only question mark that you can think of. Can he sustain that. But the talent is unbelievable, his mental, he's ready and he has a chance to be one of the best players in the history of our game.”
Victor Wembanyama stars for Spurs and France
While Spurs fans are anticipating Victor Wembanyama's second NBA season, they can currently watch him suit up for the French national team at the Olympics. France is 2-1 in the group stage having beaten Brazil and Japan and losing to Germany.
During those three games, Wembanyama has averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 rebounds. 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 48.6 percent shooting from the field, 43.8 percent shooting from the three-point line and 72.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
This past season, Wembanyama was the NBA's Rookie of the Year and second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals and a league-leading 3.6 blocked shots. He shot 46.5 percent from the field, 32.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 79.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
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