By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
During the last preseason night before the start of the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season, the San Antonio Spurs got the upper hand over the Golden State Warriors with Victor Wembanyama scoring 19 points to help his team get the 122-117 victory.
Talking prior to the encounter – as reported on Twitter by Tom Orsborn – Steve Kerr spoke about Gregg Popovich having the 1st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft on board. “Pop is bouncing off the walls, he’s really excited”, he first commented. The San Antonio Spurs head coach then spoke about the hype around the potential French generational talent.
When asked if he could be compared to Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the 74-year-old head coach pointed out another pretty important NBA superstar. “This guy [Victor Wembanyama] has had that hype for so long, kind of like LeBron [James] did. I compare him more to LeBron [James] than those two guys in that respect”, he said.
Then, Gregg Popovich went on to say that he’s already prepared to face the NBA world media-wise as well when he wanted to “protect him more”. “I found out very early talking to him that he kind of looked at me like, “Why is this guy telling me all this stuff?”. Like, he already knows it, he has been through it”, the Spurs head coach commented.
Finally, he commented on Steve Kerr saying he senses he’s rejuvenated after getting the former ASVEL and Metropolitans 92 player, joking. “What was I being rejuvenated from? Was I in a mental institution? Was I depressed and curled up in my bedroom or something?”, he ironically asked.