Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Victor Wembanyama signed a long-term contract extension with the NBA San Antonio Spurs on Friday after telling supporters: “I’m here to stay. Whatever it takes.” The Spurs posted video of the signing on their social media accounts, confirming a multi-year extension. ESPN reported the deal was for the five-year, $252 million rookie maximum with the extension including a player option in the fifth season.
The 22-year-old Frenchman posted his comments to the “Spurs family” on X earlier in the day, hinting what was to come for the 7-foot-4 (2.24m) superstar. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, an NBA-best 3.1 blocked shots, and 1.0 steals a game for San Antonio last season as the Spurs reached the NBA Finals only to lose to the New York Knicks. “Wemby” was unanimously voted the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and sparked the Spurs to the second-best record in the league at 62-20, then in his first NBA playoff run, ousted Portland, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City to reach the finals.
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Wembanyama was disappointed after the finals defeat, but the news he will remain a Spur for the long term will excite San Antonio supporters. According to ESPN, Wembanyama did not take “supermax” escalators worth 30% in the deal, staying with a 25% jump that will allow the Spurs more money and room under NBA salary cap rules to better surround him with talent in the quest for a championship. It’s a move similar to one made by Tim Duncan in an earlier Spurs era to help produce a champion and by New York’s Jalen Brunson to give the Knicks enough talent to dispatch the Spurs in last month’s Finals.
Wembanyama has three-season NBA career averages of 23.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.5 blocked shots, and 1.1 steals. Since his arrival as the top overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Wembanyama has inspired a startling turnaround in the Spurs’ fortunes. They won just 22 games in his first season and 34 in the next before they roared into title contention with a dazzling 62-win campaign. A superb march to the Finals ensued, including an against-the-odds defeat of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder before they fell to the Knicks in the NBA Finals.
Even as he absorbed the enormity of that defeat, Wembanyama was eyeing a return to the Finals. “It has been a hell of a year in terms of experience,” he said after the Knicks clinched a 4-1 triumph in the championship series in June, adding that one of the hardest aspects of the defeat is that “there’s probably a hundred games before we can be back in Finals.” “It’s painful,” he said. “But I’m not running away from that. I’m using (it) to fuel me.”
© 2024 AFP
