by Throughout the history of the National Basketball Association, one thing has almost always been true. The league is extremely difficult – and especially for rookies. Unless your name is Magic Johnson, the first year of your career represents a lot of struggle, heartbreak and mistakes. But what the NBA has also taught its players is that pro is the name of the game resilience. It’s what one does with those hard times that matters most. Fall, but rise. And when it comes to the two most hyped rookies of the 2023-24 season – Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, who were selected first and third in the 2023 draft, respectively – the new season is proving to be a test of all respected and proud of in the past.
Last week, the teenagers met for the first time in the NBA. The game, which opened a back-to-back for the Spurs and Blazers, was the first time the two rookies had played in opposing jerseys since October 2022 in what was then a sensational display. interrupted G- Henderson. A league team against Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 squad from the French premier division. This time, Wemby’s San Antonio Spurs were playing against Henderson’s Portland Trail Blazers in the Rose City. With the teams struggling at the bottom of the Western Conference, the matchup reflected the reality that last year’s headlines won’t carry over to this year. But under the leadership of championship coaches – Gregg Popovich for San Antonio and Chauncey Billups for Portland – the question remains: How will the rookies rise to the level of their decorated play callers?
“Try not to go overboard — and coach,” Popovich said when asked what it takes to build his roster and pick No. 1 in a winner before Thursday night’s game. “It’s early enough in his career to start talking about what he needs to do – we’re just learning who he is.”
“He’s going to have a long career,” Billups said of his own young star before Thursday’s tip-off. “I think his confidence has increased a lot in this process. I think the game has kind of slowed it down. He understands what I want from him every day. He’s getting to know his teammates’ games out there a little more. And he is studying more and more.”
Although both rookies have a long road ahead of them, they have already received a lot of praise for what they can do as young stars in the league. Oh significant sand dunes to great potential to eye-catching highlights, there is a reason why is there so much talk about both. “I’ll be what I needed to be as the third pick in the draft at 20 years old,” Billups, a former point guard and No. 3 pick, It has been said about the talented Henderson, who essentially replaced Blazer icon Damian Lillard this year after the Dame was traded to Milwaukee. “I promised him that.”
Today, Wembanyama seems to be a bit taller than Henderson, but maybe that’s because he boasts something that coaches can’t teach: incredible height. He also has big-time skill, the ability to dribble and shoot like a wing and the knack for stiffening defenses around the basket that others like Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Adul-Jabbar are known for. Halloween, Wemby in part with Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns, coming off one of San Antonio’s few wins this year. The two teams are next there was also a standout performance in the game by Wemby. The matchup led Durant to call him a “unique” player. “He’s going to be a force in this league for a long time,” he said.
Along with her physical gifts, the Wembanyama coach has praised her maturity. In a virtual press conference earlier in 2023, Pop revealed what Wemby is up to. “A lot of people in this league have talent,” the Spurs coach said. “But I think the people who have superstar status have something that the rest don’t and that’s between their ears.” Popovich praised the 7ft 3in star’s parents for raising their son well. “He’s one of the most mature 19-year-olds I’ve ever been around,” said the five-time championship coach. Still, Pop emphasized a wait-and-see approach. He and his staff want to observe Wemby and take him along slowly, he said, giving him the freedom to explore and make mistakes. “[Like] what time is suitable for three, and what is not,” said Pop.
By the week of the games in Portland, Wemby was leading his team in four of the five major counting statistics: points, rebounds, blocks and steals. But the team’s biggest problem is that they don’t have a proper point guard in their starting lineup, with no player on the team getting more than five assists per game. Wemby, listed at 209lbs, needs to put on weight too, some say. “He’s obviously a first-generation player,” former Spurs head coach Bob Hill told the Guardian. Hill should know; he coached former MVP center David Robinson in San Antonio in the mid-90s. “[But] it’s going to take a while [Wemby] to be a winner playing in the NBA. He has to get bigger and stronger.”
For Henderson, his freshman year has been full of fits and starts. While he scored a career-high 25 points Thursday, he was also responsible for six turnovers in the game, which opened with a 28-6 Spurs run in the first quarter. Henderson, who has only started a handful of Portland contests, has also spent time in the G-League. But he showed flashes over the weekend of why he was on so much thought. He is fast as can be and solid as a rock, physically. But he can also be tentative at times and isn’t shooting the ball that well, especially around the hoop, hitting about 37% from the field. Wembanyama didn’t help that cause Thursday, arching seven blocks, including several on Scoot’s attempts.
It is also worth noting that Wemby and Henderson are not the only two rookies who stand out this year. Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, the No. 1 pick 2 in the latest draft, averaging about 15 points per game while Oklahoma City star center Chet Holmgren, who sat out last year due to injury, is averaging better than 17 points and nearly three blocks and eight heads. rebounds per game in his first official year – make it a winning team. But, even more than these two, it was Wemby and Henderson who grabbed most of the headlines before this NBA season. All eyes are on them.
On Thursday, the skyscraping Wembanyama, who averages about 19 points per game, opened the matchup with a left hookshot turnaround that wowed Blazer fans. Before the game, many in the stands (especially children) shouted his name, holding hand-made signs, hoping for his attention. After hitting the hook, Wemby quickly followed it up with a made three pointer. But Scoot, who averages about 12 points per game, was also involved, flying around for a steal attempt and a layup that led to a big dunk put back by a teammate in the opening minutes, pushing of the ball where he could.
But the youth of both players was evident in the early going, with Scoot missing a number of close-range shots and Wemby looking at times like a calf out in the field, all limbs and a youthful face on a swivel. The tall Frenchman showed his willingness to take charge, however, and ran to his teammates for a helping hand when they were on the floor. By the end of the game, Wemby had 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven blocked shots in a record 24 minutes. And Scoot tallied 25 points, three rebounds, four assists, a steal and six turnovers. The final score on Thursday was 118-105 Spurs.
But after the game, once most of the fans had left Portland’s Moda Center, Henderson was back on the floor for about 45 minutes, practicing a variety of shots on his own, from jumpers to floaters, at getting more and more reps on his home court, making sure his touch around the rim was fine-tuned, showing his work ethic. And before Friday night’s game, the rising star guard told the Guardian that he feels he has grown significantly since starting about 20 games ago.
“I think it’s gradually wise,” the soft-spoken Henderson said of his improvement. “Use my albites. My confidence [is] still the same, I think, but more [of it]. I’m just getting more comfortable with the reps.” And how could he look to continue his progress? “Every game, just watching film afterwards. Most of the time, it’s the same thing. So, keep rocking it and getting better.” Henderson, who could easily be mistaken for a Marvel superhero if put into some other context, says his “ability to fly [up court]speed, strength, all that” has also faded.
In Friday’s game, Spurs kept Wembanyama out of the back-to-back because of an ankle issue he suffered earlier in December. Coach Popovich says he has a mandated minutes restriction and is unable to play back-to-back games for a few weeks until the team takes another look at his leg. “He’d rather be playing,” Pop admitted. On the other hand, Henderson started Friday’s game again (seventh start of the year), with talented Portland guards Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe both out.
In the game, one in which Billups said he expected Henderson to limit his turnovers, saying Scoot needed to get the team off to a better start, the young point guard gave the ball away twice in the opening frame, but the Blazers stayed close to the Spurs in the first quarter, unlike the night before, the two squads finishing tied at 29. Scoot scored six points in the first period, finishing the game with 22, 11 assists, seven rebounds and four turnovers. In the end, the Trailblazers won a close game, 134-128, taking advantage of the French presence. But while fans weren’t able to see Wemby and Scoot take the court together for the second night in a row on Friday, the two are set to reunite in Texas on January 26. And if their early rounds are any indication, their games will continue to be must-see TV for years to come.
