NBA
FIBA apologizes for ‘fake’ article involving French NBA prospect Victor Wembanyama
Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.
All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated26 Feb 2023
Nowadays we are certainly hearing a lot about French youngster Victor Wembanyama. He’s not just the NBA’s most exciting prospect, projected as the No.1 pick of the next Draft, but also some experts are already going the extra mile to name him the succesor for the future of basketball.
In other words, everyone wants a piece of him, and this is generating some problems around the player.
Just this past week, the 19-year-old took it to social media to demand explanations from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) after their debiste published an article that was based on an interview that he makes sure never even happened.
“WTF???”, the future star shared on his Instagram account. “4 days ago, [FIBA] published a FAKE interview with me.”
This presumed interview with the French athlete was supposedly an “exclusive” opportunity to meet the athlete who currently performs for Metropolitans 92, a team located outside of Paris. Just hours after Wembanyama called them out, the Federation published a statement with an apology to the seven-foot-four player.
“An article featuring a supposed interview with Victor Wembanyama was recently published on the FIBA website. After doubts were expressed by the player regarding the interview, which was provided to FIBA by a long-time French contributor, the veracity of the interview could not be confirmed,” FIBA’s declaration commences.
“FIBA has without delay removed the article and all related social media posts, and has immediately terminated the relationship with the freelance reporter,” they assured.
Take a look at the Federation’s twitter account for yourselves and read the entirety of the statement:
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) February 22, 2023
The young player wants to make sure he has no distractions as he prepares for the NBA Draft in June.
An actual article explains Wembanyama’s plan to dominate the league
Also this past week, an actual authentic news piece was prepared by Sports Illustrated to give profound detail on what are Victor Wembanyama’s expectations for what’s to happen this 2023 and years to come.
Even a video of this coverage interview was dropped on the internet last Tuesday that kicks off with a collage of professional opinions about the 19-year-old’s future. “The biggest prospect since LeBron James came into the Draft in 2003,” it begins. “He runs like a guard, he shoots like a guard. Game changer. He needs to decide if he wants to be the best center of all time.”
Watch the full reportage by Sport Illustrated in the following YouTube link:
As we can all only speculate over where the young star will play for next in his career, the buzz around him is huge. You might think the most powerful NBA franchises are the best picks for him, but actually the teams that have expressed more desire to sign this basketball jewel are the ones at the bottom of the standings.
Just as it’s happened many times in the past, the ‘weaker’ teams usually have more to offer a young prospect, as they can assure them to play in the starting lineup from their rookie year and even build the squad around them.
Wembanyama is aware of this, and has said before that he does not have any specific wishes over where he should be traded to. “There is no wrong team,” he told ESPN recently. “I am not worried; there is no bad organization. I never tell myself I don’t like to go there.”
