The San Antonio Spurs are already preparing for the arrival of French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who won’t officially join the team until late June when he’s selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft.
But the team is already at work preparing for the 7-2 generational talent. Part of that prep work is realizing that Wembanyama, while gifted, will need help making the transition to the NBA. To that end, the Spurs have picked up a tutor to help mentor Wembanyama.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Guy by the name of Tim Duncan.
The two-time NBA MVP knows the pressure that comes from being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, an honor Duncan had with San Antonio in 1997.
Duncan went on to become a 15-time All-Star with the Spurs, leading the team to five NBA championships. San Antonio fans would probably be thrilled if Wembanyama puts up half those numbers.
After retiring in 2016, Duncan joined the Spurs during the 2019-2020 Covid-shortened season as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich.
As NBA insider Marc Stein noted in a newsletter, “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.”
Duncan is a great person to teach a young big man the game. He was widely hailed as one of the most fundamentally sound, intelligent players in NBA history. Natural talent only takes a player so far. With Wembanyama’s raw talent and Duncan’s mentoring, the Spurs heralded rookie should quickly become a force.
