NBA

Victor Wembanyama Will Not Sacrifice France National Team For NBA Career

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Oliver Taliku
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Oliver Taliku Sports Editor

Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites such as The Sports Daily, Basketball Insiders, Augusta Free Press and Business2Community where he has produced hundreds of articles alongside being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football. Some of his sports betting work can be found on www.sportslens.com and www.thesportsdaily.com.

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Updated3 hours ago on December 18, 2024

Spurs Victor Wembanyama 2nd-youngest NBA player to record a 40-point, 20-rebound game behind John Drew

Playing in the NBA full time and also competing in international tournaments can be a challenging career, but Victor Wembanyama refuses to ever sacrifice France for the league.

Wembanyama Focused On France

Victor Wembanyama is already one of the biggest superstars in the NBA after just one year in the league, but his physically demanding schedule isn’t getting the better of the Frenchman just yet.

The 20-year-old is averaging 30.3 minutes per game so far in his career, having played 92 games in the league (71 in 2023 and 21 in 2024).

At the end of a busy first season last year, Wembanyama returned home to France where he represented his country in the Paris Olympic Games.

At just 20-years-old Wembanyama led his nation to a Silver medal at the games, with the 7’3 star scoring 26 points and seven rebounds in the final as France lost to team USA.

Hope For France

Although France fell at the final hurdle, Wembanyama’s performances for his country gave the nation hope for the future and confirmed his superstar potential.

‘Wemby’ returned to NBA action just under two months after the games and despite concerns about the condition of his body after such a demanding campaign, last year’s rookie of the year has missed just five games in 2024 so far.

Speaking this week during a short break for San Antonio, Wembanyama had no doubt in his mind that he wants to compete for France whenever he is able to.

“There is always time to make the French team. You just have to sacrifice a little of your physical preparation for the following season,” Wembanyama said this week. “So yeah, it’s definitely my goal to make the French team every summer.”

Of course last year was Wembanyama’s first in the league and as there was no postseason to speak of in San Antonio, in te future the Frenchman’s body will only be tested more and more.

The prospect of the Spurs being in the playoffs this year also seems pretty bleak as per the best online sportsbooks, with San Antonio +475 to make the postseason.