Victor Wembanyama: "Breaking up your entire core for a single player rarely works...it's obviously my dream to spend my entire career with one franchise."

[TimmyBuckets]

"Breaking up your entire core for a single player rarely works. And the Spurs are masters in the art of building teams without having to go out and get too many big players, or having to sacrifice the balance of the group,"

"I know it's not everyone's ambition in the NBA, but it's obviously my dream to spend my entire career with one franchise."


via interview with L'Epique.


https://sports.yahoo.com/article/victor-wembanyama-shares-hopes-san-173453094.html

https://www.lequipe.fr/Basket/Article/-vous-n-etes-pas-prets-pour-ce-qui-arrive-entretien-avec-victor-wembanyama-apres-sa-blessure-a-l-epaule-et-avant-sa-troisieme-saison-nba/1578029

https://basketnews.com/news-227888-victor-wembanyama-spurs-no-kevin-durant-giannis-trade.html


I love this guy lmaoo.

[Russ]

He's already a better GM than LeBron or Giannis.

[TimmyBuckets]

AHHH damn I'm hyped for this season. What a godsend of a superstar. Second coming of Timmy!

[violentkitten]

make it happen cap’n

[ismael-robert]

That's French for F Houston

[BackHome]

Straight from the Horses mouth

[spurraider21]

He didn’t complain when we traded for Fox

obviously after the fact he’s not gonna say “yeah i wish we traded Devin and Keldon” :lol

[TimmyBuckets]

He didn’t complain when we traded for Fox

obviously after the fact he’s not gonna say “yeah i wish we traded Devin and Keldon” :lol

yea Zach Collins was a key core piece lmfao

[TheDoctor]

AHHH damn I'm hyped for this season. What a godsend of a superstar. Second coming of Timmy!

If only.

[DAF86]

yea Zach Collins was a key core piece lmfao

And Keldon is? :lol

[SupremeGuy]

So Wemby is saying that if we're successful he'll take less so that other players can get paid too? It's a great thing to say but I'll believe it when I see it. No way his agent lets that shit fly.

Does he have a bunch of endorsements in France?

[Ice009]

So Wemby is saying that if we're successful he'll take less so that other players can get paid too? It's a great thing to say but I'll believe it when I see it. No way his agent lets that shit fly.

Does he have a bunch of endorsements in France?

Did he say this, or are you just inferring it from something else he said?

[SupremeGuy]

Did he say this, or are you just inferring it from something else he said?How are you taking what he said? It's probably wishful thinking on my end. lol But if he did something like that it'd change the NBA.

[HanoverSpurs]

AHHH damn I'm hyped for this season. What a godsend of a superstar. Second coming of Timmy!

EXACTLY

[KobesAchilles]

Who exactly are “the core” bc all I see that can be considered that on our team are him and Castle and Fox. We can hope on Harper and Bryant but idk. But what if we offered Vassell, Sochan, and Barnes plus our #2 pick and the ATL pick and 2 more FRPs. In that offer we wouldn’t have traded a single “core player.”

Now if they wanted both Harper and Castle then obviously that’s a no. They get one of them not both of them

[HanoverSpurs]

Who exactly are “the core” bc all I see that can be considered that on our team are him and Castle and Fox. We can hope on Harper and Bryant but idk. But what if we offered Vassell, Sochan, and Barnes plus our #2 pick and the ATL pick and 2 more FRPs. In that offer we wouldn’t have traded a single “core player.”

Now if they wanted both Harper and Castle then obviously that’s a no. They get one of them not both of them

Offered for GiANNIS I assume. Gosh that;s a lot to give up----- core player Harper is not a core player??? vassell and sochan are not core but solid rotational guys

[venitian navigator]

I think the only point wemby should mantain Is, After his rookie 4 years, tò be the most payed player on the team...he doesnt need supermax nor a max contract but Just for be respected by teammates and League. After all he can make Money Just by winning games (advertising etc) and the less he takes the more he can have good tò very good teammates and consequently win games ...

[Rocalcio]

He didn’t complain when we traded for Fox

obviously after the fact he’s not gonna say “yeah i wish we traded Devin and Keldon” :lol

Fox didn't cost anything...

[TimmyBuckets]

Thread turned into a whinefest Lmaoo. Never change ST.

[KobesAchilles]

Offered for GiANNIS I assume. Gosh that;s a lot to give up----- core player Harper is not a core player??? vassell and sochan are not core but solid rotational guys
Harper could be a core player. I really hope he does become one. But as of now he’s an unknown at this point. I’m not saying he won’t be good or anything just that we don’t know for sure. While I 100% know that Giannis is an MVP level player.

[exstatic]

Thread turned into a whinefest Lmaoo. Never change ST.

It would only be news if a thread here did NOT turn into a whinefest.

[Ice009]

How are you taking what he said? It's probably wishful thinking on my end. lol But if he did something like that it'd change the NBA.

I haven't had a chance to read the article someone translated on reddit or watched any videos yet. I will do so now. Couldn't earlier as I had to work. I thought maybe you read he was hinting at it or something, but not saying it. Bit of confusion on my part.

[ginobilized]

Wemby blows me away with his intelligence and class. We are so fortunate to have a superstar like him. I agree with him in the team-building philosophy. After 2 consecutive 22-win seasons and a 34-win season, I think we will be, to use a popular phrase in these here parts, turning the corner.

Houston will be somewhere between really good and great if KD stays healthy. Their window is very limited, I think. Will be fun to play them and to see if the KD curse follows him to H-town.

[Dverde]

Victor Himbanyama

[TheDoctor]

Victor Himbanyama

:lol

[spurraider21]

Fox didn't cost anything...
I liked the trade a lot but let’s please not retcon 2 unprotected firsts and a lightly protected first as “nothing”

maybe the weak first cancels out with being able to dump Zollins

[rjv]

i have to make sure that i'm not on the political forum when i read some of these takes. ST posters will speculate that Wemby is not being completely earnest because it's too hard to just take Wemby for his word. never mind Wemby's assertion, that breaking up cores rarely works, is pretty sound and that he has consistently stated he is on board with the Spurs timeline. i guess it's just easier to push narratives.

[pad300]

Victor Himbanyama

Nope.

Victor WE-banyama

[spurs10]

The last game of the season Victor was there giving out t-shirts to the kids and fans towering above everyone in the lobby. He had a big smile on his face and everyone followed him like the Pied Piper as he walked around the concourse of the arena. I thought to myself, 'what a great guy.'

[TVI]

He didn’t complain when we traded for Fox

obviously after the fact he’s not gonna say “yeah i wish we traded Devin and Keldon” :lol

What part of our core did we give up for Fox again?

[couchman]

Wemby is right.

How many teams in recent memory have traded their future to get a single player and then had it blow up in their faces?
The Clippers giving away SGA, the pick that became DWill, and numerous other 1sts and swaps for Kawhi has been a total disaster.
Phoenix is another mega-hyped "Big 3" that has failed to deliver and they're stuck with Houston holding their draft bag.
Brooklyn did it before them.

[KobesAchilles]

I’m just wondering who this mythical core player is that we were going to trade. Bc my trade I suggested featured zero core players.

[T Park]

So Wemby is saying that if we're successful he'll take less so that other players can get paid too? It's a great thing to say but I'll believe it when I see it. No way his agent lets that shit fly.

Does he have a bunch of endorsements in France?

hes got tons of endorsements. hes sponsored by Louis Vuitton. wouldn't shock me if he started doing photo shoots with them in the future

[exstatic]

I liked the trade a lot but let’s please not retcon 2 unprotected firsts and a lightly protected first as “nothing”

maybe the weak first cancels out with being able to dump Zollins

The discussion context is core team players, so in that sense and context, it cost nothing.

[Dex]

Spurs really did get a golden ticket with this kid.

Please don't fuck this up :downspin:

[scott]

The discussion context is core team players, so in that sense and context, it cost nothing.

Disclaimer: this isn’t a reply directly to you ex, but I thought your post was a great jumping off point.

IMO, the best part of this is that “core” is completely subjective. It’s not like the league forces you to designate “core players”. Players are part of your core right up until they aren’t. It was only a few years ago when our “core” was DJM/Derrick White/Keldon Johnson/Devin Vassell. Then it was Keldon/Devin/Sochan. There are quotes people have found where Pop felt Tre Jones was a part of our core (he was part of the first Power Of Friendship jokes based on that quote) - but he got moved out for Fox.

Perosnally I don’t consider any of these guys are part of our core, but I know some people make an argument for Sochan. Who knows, maybe one day Castle won’t even be seen as part of the “core” any longer. So talking about preserving the “core” is a good thing to say because it’s meaning is subjective and subject to change at any moment.

[ambchang]

Really, the only sure core piece right now is wemby, and that is barring injuries. Castle and Harper will have to prove themselves to become the core.

[TimmyBuckets]

I love how at least half of ST want to trade away every player except Wemby. For who? They don’t even know. Lmao

[Mr. Body]

I love how at least half of ST want to trade away every player except Wemby. For who? They don’t even know. Lmao

Every time a despised player is removed they move on to their next despised player.

It's a messed up fanbase

[scott]

Fans want losing team to improve, so they can stop losing

It's mind boggling, I know

[rjv]

i think it's safe to assume that 99% of ST posters want the Spurs to improve. the disagreements are in how fans think the Spurs should (realistically) improve the team.

[scott]

i think it's safe to assume that 99% of ST posters want the Spurs to improve. the disagreements are in how fans think the Spurs should (realistically) improve the team.

People have different opinions? I'm shocked.

[rjv]

People have different opinions? I'm shocked.

that was actually my benign way of agreeing with TB and MB. because i wouldn't want to be caustic and come off as an asshole.

[scott]

that was actually my benign way of agreeing with TB and MB. because i wouldn't want to be caustic and come off as an asshole.

I get what you were doing, but what is really being communicated with these "takes" is "fans who have a different opinion than mine are idiots" when the reality is... they just have different opinions. And the notion that half of the fan base wants to trade everyone is just false. Some people want to move on from certain players, other people want to move on from others, just like some are fans of some players and some are fans of others. "Half of the fan base hates all our players" is no more or less accurate than "half of the fan base thinks Sochan, Vassell and Johnson are key members of the core".

People have different opinions, and it's okay. The fanbase is not some monolith. What's great about this forum is that there are lot of people who will provide detailed, well reasoned takes on why they hold the opinions they do. They probably do on other platforms as well, it's just that those platforms are less conducive to that kind of discussion (I'm thinking of twitter and reddit)

[exstatic]

Disclaimer: this isn’t a reply directly to you ex, but I thought your post was a great jumping off point.

IMO, the best part of this is that “core” is completely subjective. It’s not like the league forces you to designate “core players”. Players are part of your core right up until they aren’t. It was only a few years ago when our “core” was DJM/Derrick White/Keldon Johnson/Devin Vassell. Then it was Keldon/Devin/Sochan. There are quotes people have found where Pop felt Tre Jones was a part of our core (he was part of the first Power Of Friendship jokes based on that quote) - but he got moved out for Fox.

Perosnally I don’t consider any of these guys are part of our core, but I know some people make an argument for Sochan. Who knows, maybe one day Castle won’t even be seen as part of the “core” any longer. So talking about preserving the “core” is a good thing to say because it’s meaning is subjective and subject to change at any moment.
I’m not even here debate the core, just to say that Sidy, Tre, and Zach weren’t a part of it. A poster mentioned that we hadn’t traded core pieces yet, and another poster mentioned the Fox trade, which I will assert was not composed of core player pieces going out.

[scott]

I’m not even here debate the core, just to say that Sidy, Tre, and Zach weren’t a part of it. A poster mentioned that we hadn’t traded core pieces yet, and another poster mentioned the Fox trade, which I will assert was not composed of core player pieces going out.

I've nothing to debate with anything you've said (and I would agree that none of those guys should have ever been considered part of the core, despite that apparent quote that the team once viewed Tre as part of it... shudder to think).

My only point is that logically, it is easy to square the concept of "not giving up your core"... because "the core" doesn't actually mean anything real.

[rjv]

I get what you were doing, but what is really being communicated with these "takes" is "fans who have a different opinion than mine are idiots" when the reality is... they just have different opinions. And the notion that half of the fan base wants to trade everyone is just false. Some people want to move on from certain players, other people want to move on from others, just like some are fans of some players and some are fans of others. "Half of the fan base hates all our players" is no more or less accurate than "half of the fan base thinks Sochan, Vassell and Johnson are key members of the core".

People have different opinions, and it's okay. The fanbase is not some monolith. What's great about this forum is that there are lot of people who will provide detailed, well reasoned takes on why they hold the opinions they do. They probably do on other platforms as well, it's just that those platforms are less conducive to that kind of discussion (I'm thinking of twitter and reddit)

i was actually trying to be ironic, but i can agree with this. i'm mostly interested in chronic venous insufficiency at the moment.

[scott]

i was actually trying to be ironic, but i can agree with this. i'm mostly interested in chronic venous insufficiency at the moment.

I'm only learning about this condition today... I hope it's really bad.

[Mr. Body]

I'm only learning about this condition today... I hope it's really bad.

lol

Could you imagine the doctor trying to explain the condition over and over to the dullard, much less remember the words. "Today, I have invented the most wondrous illness, some say, in the history of the world. It's called vainy, vainy, veinous thrombolicitous, they say insufficiency but we know that's not true. Not true. That part's not true. But no one has ever had it more unfairly than me. No one."

[scott]

lol

Could you imagine the doctor trying to explain the condition over and over to the dullard, much less remember the words. "Today, I have invented the most wondrous illness, some say, in the history of the world. It's called vainy, vainy, veinous thrombolicitous, they say insufficiency but we know that's not true. Not true. That part's not true. But no one has ever had it more unfairly than me. No one."

"I call it 'the CVI' you know nobody was using that term before me but I call it 'the CVI' really nasty condition but not for me. Its no big deal really for me 'the CVI' but the doctors come up to me with tears in their eyes and said 'Sir, you have the CVI, did you even known? For most people it is debilitating but not for you sir, you are so strong' and then I passed an IQ test. Horse television dishwasher Epstein groceries. 'The CVI' not such a big deal for Trump"

[poopbox]

Victor got a POF tattoo on his left buttcheek :depressed