If expectations could be measured in numbers, it could easily break the device for what the France men’s basketball team is coping with right. The home turf pressure has piled up with the disappointing 5-point loss on August 7, 2021, to Team USA. And Victor Wembanyama, only 20, is feeling the most of it.

France head coach Vincent Collet revealed this piece of information after their opening night win against Brazil. For the Spurs fans, this might come as a surprise. From day 1 in the NBA, Victor Wembanyama has stayed under the assuring shadow of Gregg Popovich. But on a global stage, the scenario is completely different for the center.

Collet identified the problem, tried his best to fix it and, one can say, he somehow fixed it as it seemed from Wemby’s performance. “I sensed it,” Collet said about the pressure Wemby was feeling. “He was a little bit nervous. In France, everybody waits for him. I don’t know which word to use, but everybody waits for him. People who know basketball understand he’s only 20 years old. But people who like Spurs but don’t know basketball, they think Victor is like Michael Jordan…It’ll take time.” Ouch, that’s gonna sting Spurs fans. Pressure is something every NBA star can relate to. And when it came to Victor Wembanyama, the pressure was always there.

Coming into the league with expectations at its peak, Wemby showed his mettle by winning the ROTY award. But now it will only increase from here on out, a very different sort of pressure, the playoff-winning kind of pressure. That didn’t faze him though, as his national team coach explained. “For the first time in his career, he was a little bit stressed this week,” the Mets coach told BasketNews after the game. “Three days before the game, I felt he was a little bit stressed, so we talked together and everybody around [him], teammates, the rest of the staff, we tried to help him. He’s so mature, he got better day by day.” That translated on the court as well and Wemby came out of his shell as the game progressed.

Victor Wembanyama impresses on his Olympic debut

After a few days of tense limbering up, the day finally arrived for Victor Wembanyama. And boy didn’t he put up a show for the world to see. After Brazil pegged back the hosts, Wemby came to the rescue. After a commanding first half that left Dwyane Wade awestruck, the 7-footer continued his dominance. By the end of the night, 19 points were glittering beside his name. Wemby also latched onto 9 rebounds, stole the ball 4 times and provided 2 assists along with 7-13 shooting from the floor.

With 2 points in the bag, France will face Japan on July 30, from which they’d like to pick up full points before facing the toughest challenge in the group, Germany, on August 3. Now that the debut is out of the way, one can expect Victor Wembanyama to play without anything on the back of his mind. That’s something the whole of France would hope for. And they won’t mind making themselves as guilty as the Spurs fans for expecting him to be Michael Jordan if the opportunity presents itself on another fateful night with Team USA for a shot at gold.

And to absorb more interesting stories, watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where the prodigy puts Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr under the pump with loaded NBA questions and more in this video below.