NBA – Nico Batum on his relationship with Wembanyama: “I don’t give him advice”.

Par Guillaume Kagni | Journaliste sportif

The French community is one of the largest in the NBA, and the players make sure it thrives by providing each other with solidarity at all times. In fact, Victor Wembanyama is clearly the only one who can’t count on Nico Batum’s advice.

If French basketball is in such good shape today, particularly among the boys, it’s because there’s a real culture of transmission between the generations. Tony Parker, France’s first NBA star, did his utmost to welcome and integrate his compatriots into the big American league. Together with Boris Diaw, they have been mentors to Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.

The latter, aware of the impact these discussions had on their careers, decided to carry on the tradition with the new wave of French players. This season, the Timberwolves pivot invited Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr to his home on the sidelines of the Wizards game. The French NBA community is strong both on and off the court.

Nicolas Batum talks about Wemby’s potential

Speaking on the popular podcast “The Young Man and The Three”, Nicolas Batum was asked about this national solidarity and his relationship with Victor Wembanyama. Clearly, Wemby is the only player not entitled to advice from the former Les Bleus captain. He’s so unique that he has to find the answers himself to reach the top:

People ask me, ‘Do you have any advice for Vic?’. No, he got it. He got everything figured out. He’s gonna be fine, trust me.If you watch every great, they got that one or two go-to moves,” he said. “I don’t think he has one or two yet, but is it a good thing or a bad thing? I think he needs that one or two moves, but he got so many.

I really spent time with him this summer in the Olympics, playing with him and practicing with him. We’ve seen so much stuff in practice that’s not normal defensively, offensively. I’m like, “If you do that in the game, consistently, man.” He’s gonna figure it out, he’s still young … When he’s gonna be 26 or 27, it’s gonna be crazy.

Victor Wembanyama is already an extraordinary player, and he’s only 21. Nicolas Batum was able to rub shoulders with him in the French national team, he was able to see him at work, and he is convinced that the Spurs pivot will be in another dimension with a few more years. In fact, he doesn’t even think he needs to give him advice on how to reach the top of his game.