But Wenbanyama and his teammates did not take part in Friday’s opening ceremony. Their absence turned Saturday’s 78-66 opening victory over Brazil into a spectacular debut for the 7-foot-4 sensation. As the host nation and facing pressure to live up to their silver medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics, France was keen to avoid the pomp and pageantry of a procession down the Seine. Center Rudy Gobert “Safety and tranquility” in Lille, a charming city of 230,000 inhabitants that will host the group stage of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The win was a chance for France to lick their wounds after going 2-4 in exhibition losses to Germany, Serbia, Canada and Australia. It also gave coach Vincent Collet a chance to advise Ouenbanyama on dealing with the high expectations that come with his first Olympics. While France’s basketball team has produced four-time NBA champion Tony Parker and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert, Ouenbanyama is the country’s first basketball star, a complement to soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe.
“People who know basketball understand that he’s only 20 years old,” Collett said. “People who love sports but don’t know basketball think Victor is already Michael Jordan. … A few days before the game, I felt like he was a little stressed. We talked about it together. Everybody on the team tried to help him. He’s very mature. Every day he gets better.”
Lille has embraced the dedication of Ouenbanyama, who is the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft and is the heir to the French team seeking its first Olympic gold medal. Last week, fans in the city center wore several variations of his jersey, including France’s No. 32 and Spurs’ No. 1. Bishop’s, the city’s main basketball apparel store, set up a large display honoring him next to murals of Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
At the suburban Stade Pierre Mauroy, where 27,000 packed the stadium on Saturday, a group of enthusiastic fans banged drums, cheered and yelled as Wenbanyama took control in the second quarter. Many held up signs addressed to “Wenby,” and one young woman even scrawled a marriage proposal on the French tricolor flag.
All the accolades aside, Wenbanyama is in a tricky position. Despite being one of the stars of the men’s basketball tournament, he’s also a rookie on a veteran-heavy roster that includes program mainstays Gobert, Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier. The big question heading into the Olympics is whether Wenbanyama will fit into an experienced roster or if the group will shift around him.
“I take everything that’s given to me and I communicate a lot with my teammates,” Wenbanyama said. “Making sacrifices, we have two of the best players in the EuroLeague and two championship contenders on the team. [NBA] “I won Defensive Player of the Year. We’re all ready to hand over our spots to the next guy. The guys have been playing together for a long time and know each other. I like the way they tried to integrate me into the team.”
It was Wenbanyama who set the pecking order and released France’s nerves in the first quarter with a stunning shot inside the paint. He spun, stretched and dunked, using his game-changing length to his full potential as the Brazilian forward line tried their best to separate him from the paint. Wenbanyama showed excellent technique to position himself to receive the entry pass and then made a decisive, powerful move to dunk with both hands, setting up the highlight dunk.
Defensively, Ouenbanyama and Gobert both made their presence felt by blocking shots on the same possession and pushing Brazil’s guards out of the paint, but Collet kept the 32-year-old Gobert at a distance from him more than he has in previous international tournaments, as the French coach disrupted his twin-tower combination to give Ouenbanyama more space to attack and more chances to score.
By halftime of his Olympic debut, the phenom had his team in control, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks, including a lob dunk in the final seconds of the game to seal the comeback victory.
“He’s obviously already a leader for us,” Collett said. “For Victor, the biggest thing was getting inside. He’s always going to be dominant inside. If he plays too much on the perimeter, he’s just like any other guy. Some nights he makes shots, some nights he doesn’t.”
Though France overcame shaky play in its backcourt, the win was crucial to their medal hopes, and a win over a strong Japan on Tuesday will all but guarantee France a trip to Paris for the quarterfinals.
For France to win a medal, it will need better performances from its guards and more consistent focus on defense. Even if those plans don’t come to fruition, Wembanyama will have the opportunity to fully test the limits of his sport, with France’s veteran players understanding that the program’s future has arrived sooner than expected.
“[Wembanyama] “He knows who he is,” Batum said, “he knows what he has to do to be great. Bring us home. That’s who you are now. He’s not afraid of this moment.”
