Victor Wembanyama is expected to be selected by the San Antonio Spurs, and he is expected to be taken under the wing of a team legend.
Throughout the 2022-23 season, NBA fans took note of which teams were not performing to expectations. Why’s that? Well, that would increase their chances of winning the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which then allows them to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama. The lucky team that won the first pick was the San Antonio Spurs, who were tied with the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets for the best odds with 14 percent.
It is essentially a foregone conclusion that the Spurs will be selecting Wembanyama this summer. When that does happen, the Spurs will link him up with one of their legends.
According to NBA correspondent Marc Stein (subscription required), Hall of Famer Tim Duncan is expected to visit the Spurs facility to work with Wembanyama.
Tim Duncan expected to work with Victor Wembanyama after he’s drafted No. 1 overall
“At the behest of longtime Spurs patriarch Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan agreed to join Pop’s coaching staff for the 2019-20 campaign interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That one season was enough for Duncan to reaffirm what many suspected and what he surely already knew—full-time coaching isn’t for him—but the expectation is that he will regularly visit the team’s practice facility to work with Wembanyama when the Spurs are home,” writes Stein, h/t Bleacher Report.
It’s only fitting that Wembanyama can learn from one of the best big men to ever don a Spurs uniform. Plus, the two would have one thing in common — they were two of three players selected first overall by the Spurs. The other player was David Robinson, another legendary big man.
Duncan was drafted back in 1998, and became an immediate difference maker, making the All-Star Game and winning Rookie of the Year in his first season. From there, Duncan made it to the All-Star Game and the All-NBA team 15 times, won the NBA championship five times, was named NBA Finals MVP three times, and won the league MVP award twice.
In his 19 years as a player, Duncan is the franchise’s all-time leader in points (26,496), total rebounds (15,091), blocks (3,020), minutes played (47,368), and games played (1,392).
San Antonio now has the No. 1 pick, where they could select Wembanyama. If they do, they certainly hope he will have a similar career as Duncan. Based on Stein’s comments, it sounds like the team will have Duncan work with him to begin his career.