‘100% legitimate’: Victor Wembanyama admits he deserved first-ever scold from coach Gregg Popovich

Last weekend, Victor Wembanyama produced an impressive performance for San Antonio as he ended with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the overtime victory against Houston. This became the French sensation’s first-ever regular season win of his NBA career. 

Despite the 19-year-old leading his team last Friday, his night came with an important lesson from his coach Gregg Popovich, who gave him a proper scolding with only a minute left to the match. Once the contest was over, the press asked Wemby the reasons behind his trainer’s frustrations, as he recognized his mistake.

“I forgot a play,” the Spurs big man said postgame. “I forgot one play that we added today actually. It’s a rookie mistake. 100% legitimate for him to yell at me in that moment. I apologized after the game.”

Victor Wembanyama says his first scolding from Gregg Popovich was ‘100% legitimate’ https://t.co/6BZPRPK81k

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 28, 2023

In a recent interview with the legendary coach, Popovich revealed the process of realizing that Wembanyama could land in San Antonio and revolutionize the franchise. The NBA Draft Lotter was on May 16, and he remembered that the Spurs only had a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick.

“The draft comes and all that, I watch some film, but I didn’t really pay any attention to it because you don’t think you’re gonna get him,” Gregg shared this week. “In fact, when we did get him, I was on a flight to Italy. Like, the club wondered, why would do that? Seriously. What was I going to do? Jump in the [NBA lottery] machine, then move the ping pong balls…”

Unbelievably, Popovich admitted to have fallen asleep during the lottery and did hear the news until he landed by plane.

“But there wasn’t much I could do. I was asleep. My son-in-law nudged me, woke me up and said, ‘Hey, you guys got the first pick.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s good.’ After that, I started watching film and seeing who he was,” he confessed.

The seven-foot-four big man is now averaging 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals through his first three matches in the NBA. Wembanyama has been shooting 44.7% from the floor, 23.1% from beyond the arc and 66.7% from the free-throw line.

Coach Popovich recently shared some advice for the rising star after his first-ever NBA road game vs. Clippers

The current betting favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award is still learning more and more as every game goes by. After San Antonio lost this weekend to the Los Angeles Clippers, the team’s head coach shared some advice for rookie Wembanyama, as he’d just played his first-ever NBA road game.

“It’s going to be an education,” Popovich said of the French sensation. “The road is different from playing at home in the NBA. If you start out poorly, you can’t get poorer. You can’t lose your ability to compete and playing embarrassed so to speak.”

The 19-year-old finished the game with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 turnovers, but unfortunately lost the match by 40 points. It wasn’t the best night for Wembanyama, who shot 4-of-10 from the field, 0-of-2 from beyond the arc and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line.

“You’ve got to fight your way out of that, you’ve got to stick together and people start to separate a little bit,” the Spurs coach talked about his team overcoming early struggles. “You could see it in body language and that sort of stuff.”