Inspired by Caitlin Clark, Victor Wembanyama is ready to rock the NBA after emotional Olympics
The Paris 2024 silver medallist has all the motivation to reach the NBA postseason after watching Clark storm to the playoffs this year.
Basketball
There was a moment during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 when Victor Wembanyama threatened to turn the established basketball world order on its head.
With just over three minutes left in the gold medal game between hosts France and reigning champions USA, Wembanyama drove into the teeth of the defence and put up a shot.
He missed.
But the 20-year-old unfurled his gargantuan 8-foot wingspan to snag the rebound and in one motion throw down a monstrous putback. Despite trailing by double figures for the majority of the game against a U.S. team full of superstars and future Hall of Famers, France were now only down by three points and, backed by a boisterous partisan home crowd inside the Bercy Arena, had seized the momentum on a single play by Wembanyama—a Parisian native and France's greatest basketball prospect since Tony Parker.
Suddenly, it felt as if the unthinkable would happen. France, who had never won gold in men's basketball at the Games, could topple the 16-time Olympic champions—a feat last accomplished by Argentina at Athens 2004.
Unfortunately for Wembanyama and Les Bleus, a certain Steph Curry proceeded to hit four consecutive three-pointers, and that was that. The USA triumphed 98-87.
As the final buzzer sounded, a visibly upset Wembanyama was consoled by his teammates. He had given everything he had in the push for gold, leading all scorers with 26 points and seven rebounds.
Immediately following the contest, Wembanyama told the San Antonio Express-News, "I’m learning, and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years - everywhere."
Using the disappointment of losing in the Olympic final as fuel to win is a natural course of action for the San Antonio Spurs centre, but Wembanyama has also found inspiration to improve from a more unlikely source: WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
Wembanyama on Clark: "She was the only player I was really in awe of"
After a stunning debut season in the WNBA that saw her receive Rookie of the Year honours on 3 October, Clark won plenty of plaudits from big-time players in the WNBA and NBA.
But Wembanyama, who himself won the NBA's version of the award for his play last season, has been familiar with Clark's game since her collegiate days at the University of Iowa.
"When she was in college, [she was] the only college player that I was really in awe of," Wembanyama said of Clark. "I'm saying men's and women's college basketball, she's probably the most impressive I've seen."
That's not an exagerration from the Frenchman.
During her four years at Iowa, Clark earned countless awards and statistical titles, including:
- Two-time Associated Press Player of the Year
- Two-time Naismith College Player of the Year
- Three-time unanimous first-team All-American
- Three-time NCAA seasons assists leader
- Three-time NCAA season scoring leader
- NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader
- No.22 retired by Iowa Hawkeyes
Clark was selected with the first overall pick by Indiana in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, averaging 19.2 points, a WNBA-high 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.33 steals and 35.4 minutes across 40 regular season games.
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever
While Clark's rookie season ended with a first-round playoff exit to the Connecticut Sun, Wembanyama will surely be eager to get a taste of the NBA postseason himself.
The Spurs last season were not a good team—and that's being kind.
San Antonio finished with a 22-60 record—the second-worst in the Western Conference and fifth-worst in the entire league. That was despite Wembanyama's superb debut in the league, for which he was named Rookie of the Year, an All-Defensive First Team selection, and the recepient of the blocked shots title.
But the Spurs' front office regrouped in the summer, bringing in two-time Olympic gold medallist Chris Paul to pair their franchise star with one of the best point guards in NBA history.
With a summer of Olympic experience under his belt plus the added bonus of having a 12-time All-Star throwing him lobs (not to mention the motivation of seeing Clark reach the playoffs in 2024), Wembanyama is primed to do to the NBA what he also managed against the USA at the Olympics: turn the basketball world order on its head.