The oldest coach in the NBA. The newest star in the NBA.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed dramatically. Victor Wimbanyama On his way to the NBA, the coaching win-win leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls — 14, 5, 8 and 2 was the winner — gave the Spurs the victory in the draft lottery on Tuesday night, meaning they’ll have the first pick on June 22. This meant that they received first selection on 22 June. He won the Wimpanyama lottery, and four years of losing in a way never before under Popović had already paid off.
Bob and Wimpy. The 74-year-old wine expert is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and Super talent at 19 years old which hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
“When you talk about generational talent, it often goes beyond your ability to kick the ball or your ability to jump or throw the ball on the ground,” said Tottenham general manager Brian Wright. “It’s all the little details that go great and become great. And while we’ve studied Victor, he’s very in-depth with everything he does, whether it’s on the field, whether it’s training, or the things he’s into off the field.”
if it was 7ft-3 Wimpanyama Bring the current warm-up routine to the NBA, it’s going to be like nothing else. He’s barefoot on the court for probably 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There are also some very specific ball-handling and passing things that he likes to do. It’s not just a few shots, a few dunks, a few 3-pointers and go play. There is a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love it. He knows Wimpanyama has learned the right way. The kid spent the last year playing for Tottenham icon Tony Parker in France and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. This is someone Popovic coached against the United States in the 2019 World Cup and Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Colette, making no secret of his level of respect for him.
They will talk after a long time about Wembanyama. This is certain. Bob will be immersed in knowing everything that makes the kid move, just so he will know how he will react to every situation he will face with Tottenham next season and beyond.
“His ability to connect and take the time and jump between the really detailed development of basketball players and the bigger picture of people development is impressive,” said Peter J. Holt, managing partner at Tottenham. “I think no matter what Bob does, he’ll find a way to do it because that’s in his heart. And I’m excited to see the next stage in that journey.”
This is an embarrassment of lottery fortunes for Tottenham. Let’s be clear: they’re not giving it back. But winning the lottery in 1987 and landing David Robinson was big, then winning the lottery again in 1997 and landing Tim Duncan was even bigger, and now comes Wimpanyama.
it is big. How big is this story, well, it will be told in the coming years.
“Now it’s real,” said former NBA player Ian Mahinmi — one of more than 40 internationals Popovich played during his tenure in San Antonio — during the telecast of Wimpanyama’s Ligue 1 game on Tuesday. “Now it’s all real.”
Popovich spoke before Spurs’ final game of the season about how, during his career, he has been “the beneficiary of serendipity to the full.”
He is not mistaken. More good fortune has come to San Antonio. The Spurs haven’t won a playoff series since 2017 and have gone 121-186 aggregate over the past four seasons. They basically lost more games in the past four years than in the previous eight years combined.
The loss ends now, if Wembanyama has anything to say about it. He’s coming to the NBA looking to become a star, an icon, and a champion. And he is poised to become the star of the last—and perhaps final—phase of Popović’s career.
“Today was a good day,” Wimpanyama wrote on Twitter after the lottery.
Popovich doesn’t tweet, but he and someone else in San Antonio definitely felt the same way. After 60 losses this season, they got the win they wanted most.
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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for the Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org
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