Wembanyama: ''Les Bleus jersey is very important for me''

NANTERRE (France) - One of the hottest names in basketball, French sensation Victor Wembanyama, is primed to make the first of many national team appearances for Les Bleus.

He'll suit up on Friday for France when they take on Lithuania in Panevezys, in the European Qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The  Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 starlet grabbed the world's attention last month in two games in Las Vegas with spectacular performances that consolidated his status as the likely No. 1 pick in next year's NBA Draft.

He will follow up his senior team debut on Friday with an appearance against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Pau, France, on Monday.

In Nanterre, where Wembanyama was a member of the club and he is now with France preparing for the two European Qualifiers, the 18-year-old said to Basket Europe: "I've never been so focused."

Nearly all of the reporters and cameras in Nanterre were trained on him on Monday.

"Sincerely, my life has not changed," he said. "The solicitations, the hype around me - it's nothing new. I've been getting ready for this since I was born. It comes as no surprise. As time passes, my goals are getting closer and closer. I stay focused."

Wembanyama got ready for this week with an eye-popping performance in the French league against Limoges. It was his personal best scoring performance. It also helped Boulogne win their sixth game in a row.

When asked how it felt to be back at the Palais des Sports in Nanterre, wearing the France team jersey, he said: "It is great to play here. It is special.

"The Bleu jersey, I wore it in the youth events and I can feel the same motivation coming back. The Bleu jersey is something very important for me. I've been a finalist at the U16 European Championship and could have done more if it was not for the Covid. To fight for your country, it gives you an extra inner energy."

The first call-up to the senior team is always a big step for a player but especially for a teenager.

He says he feels "very well" and can bring "fresh energy, presence" on the court.

"It is true for every level, but even more with the French national team and in FIBA, defense," he said. "I'll try to blend in, to get accustomed to the project, to adapt to the environment. First, you have to adapt, to learn to play together. It was the same thing before my season with Boulogne. I was not was not saying to myself that I had to dominate."

The World Cup Qualifiers, since 2017, have played a crucial role in the development of young players as it has given them opportunities in important, competitive games. If "Wemby" is carrying a lot of momentum into his debuts with the national team, and his appearances will help prepare him for the huge challenges ahead, and make Les Bleus stronger in the coming years.

"The first goal is to win, no matter how," he said. "That's what I want to do with the national team. With Boulogne, beyond my personal achievements, what matters is that we win."

He's seized important opportunities with both hands before. Wembanyama played in big games for France in youth tournaments, like the U16 European Championship three years ago in Udine, Italy.

He was also a star attraction last year at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Riga, Latvia, where France made it to the Final before falling to the United States.

Wembanyama has also been a spectator as Les Bleus have bolstered their status as one of the best teams in the world.

His biggest memory?

"I do not know," he said. "The strongest is Nicolas Batum's block (against Slovenia in the Olympics)." Batum pinned Klemen Prepelic's layup attempt on the backboard at the death to preserve a France victory and lift them into the Final.

"I remember having watched the 2012 London Olympics," he said. "In Rio also."

What Wembanyama will agree with is the reality that his life is moving very fast.

"Something amazing for me was to play with or against players that I've watched on TV," he said. "Antoine Diot, for example, I was playing with him at ASVEL last year. I was watching him play for the national team when I was 10-12. This was crazy."

FIBA