Victor Wembanyama reveals the biggest lesson he learned from Gregg Popovich

Victor Wembanyama reveals the biggest lesson he learned from Gregg Popovich originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Victor Wembanyama has cemented himself as one of the best players in the league over the past three years. He only arrived in 2023, but he has quickly developed star qualities that have helped the San Antonio Spurs go from a team on the outside looking in to becoming a championship contender.

The credit is certainly deservedly going to Wembanyama, but there are also a lot of people behind the scenes who have played important roles. One is Gregg Popovich, who was Wembanyama’s coach early in his career, but has transitioned into a more front office role in recent years.

Gregg Popovich has a massive impact on Victor Wembanyama’s career

Popovich is one of the most influential figures over the past three decades of NBA basketball. He was the mastermind behind the Spurs‘ dominance from the 1990s all the way to the late 2010s. He and Tim Duncan formed a partnership that eventually led to them winning five championships together.

Even though players like Duncan and Tony Parker retired, Popovich maintained his role with the Spurs as the head honcho. That changed when he encountered health problems at the tail end of his coaching career. However, he still managed to help develop a megastar on his way out of his head coach job.

MORE: Victor Wembanyama gets honest about his problems on the offensive side of the game

Wembanyama himself is glad to have worked with Popovich. To this day, Pop still has an impact on Wembanyama and the rest of the Spurs, but the team’s superstar credits the five-time champion coach for helping him adjust to the NBA.

“He often said something when we were in film: after a win, you’re rarely as good as you thought you were, and after a loss, you’re rarely as bad as you thought you were,” Wembanyama said on 60 Minutes about Popovich’s impact on him.

As long as Popovich remains with the Spurs in his role, he will have an impact on the players. Everyone, including Wembanyama, has always raved about him and his role behind the scenes, so he will continue to influence the next generation of Spurs basketball as long as he is there.

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