Victor Wembanyama Put France On His Back And Was An Unstoppable Force In His Olympic Debut

Gregory Shamus. Getty Images.

I think it goes without saying that of all the athletes at these Olympics, the one most people are excited to see is Victor Wembanyama. Making your Olympic debut at home has to feel pretty incredible, and given the fact that Wemby is already must-watch stuff at the NBA level, there is no doubt he's going to be just as devastating in these Games. Think of what a monster he already is defensively and then remember he gets to use FIBA rules now, something he's already used to. 

As you could probably have predicted, his debut today against Brazil was awesome

France is largely considered one of the countries that could pose some issues for Team USA, so their games obviously matter. This is a matchup where size is going to matter, and Steve Kerr is going to be forced to move away from his obsession with playing small with Team USA. With France having both Wemby and Gobert on the floor at the same time, you have to be able to match that with size of your own, so don't be surprised if you see a lot of Embiid/AD if these two teams play. A team like France is pretty much the exact reason why Team USA went after Embiid, he's going to be important and has to play well. In addition to their size you also have to factor in the international bump all these guys tend to have in these competitions. Players who are C+/B players in the NBA turn into international monsters, sort of like what Batum did today as well

Seeing as how Brazil didn't exactly have the size to handle Wemby, it's no surprise he had his way with them. Things become even more devastating with the shorter three-point line because that's well within Wemby's range. Spot up catch and shoot FGA, stepbacks, Wemby has it all in his arsenal so having to worry about his jumper forces you into some tough positions. Then you get into his post game and well, good luck.

Between the way Wemby immediately delivered in terms of backing up his hype once he got to the NBA and now immediately delivering on the Olympic hype with a dominant debut, it's pretty clear we're dealing with an all-time great in the making. Think about it, every time a huge moment has presented itself, Wemby delivers. It really reminds me of early LeBron, where he make it crystal clear right away that he was worth the hype. Both professionally and internationally. I keep having to remind myself that this is the worst Wemby is ever going to be and that he's nowhere even close to his basketball prime years. That feels pretty unfair.

P.S.

It remains so frustrating how bad the Olympics are with social clips/highlights. There's almost nothing out there about this game from the official accounts, and I don't understand how that's possible in 2024. So annoying.