Team France’s 98-87 defeat to Team USA has left Spurs star Victor Wembanyama more determined than ever. The eerie part about Wembanyama is his approach. His rookie year was full of surprises and not all of them were pleasant to his opponents. He was phenomenal during the Olympics, winning the silver medal, and even took lessons from Jamal Crawford. All we know for now is that he has issued a warning to hand defeat to his opponents. However, Kendrick Perkins might think a bit differently.

Wembanyama is serious about his intentions, but the ESPN analyst believes it won’t be easy, considering the other veterans in the league. Perkins predicted that it would take at least three more years for Wembanyama to reach the top five players in the league. “I say three like look, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Ja Morant even Zion. When he’s healed, they’re not just gonna hand it over to Wemby and be like ‘oh here you go you’re the best player,’” Perkins said on the recent segment of Road Trippin’.

He further added that players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić have just reached their prime and will be tough contenders for the French man. He said, “No one is just gonna hand win. He’s gonna have to go take this shit, and it’s gonna have to be a year-to-year basis.”

Some of Perkins’ predictions have been spot on. Take the Olympics Finals, for example. The retired NBA player was confident that France would not be able to defeat Stephen Curry‘s roster. He was right. Despite Wembanyama’s impressive 26 points and 7 rebounds, it wasn’t enough to lead France to victory.

However, Wembanyama says that he going to use this loss as inspiration, channeling it into energy for the upcoming regular season. But, let’s look at what Perkins had to say before this matchup.

Kendrick Perkins claimed that Team France didn’t have the talent to beat Team USA

“I’m learning, and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years.” This message is for the international players too. When asked about whether NBA or FIBA, Wembanyama said, “Everywhere.”

Perkins dismissed France’s chances of victory in the Finals even before the game because of the roster. “They (Team France) just don’t have enough talent to match up and compete with Team USA,” Perkins said. He believed that while Wembanyama was exceptional in his skills, he wasn’t Nikola Jokić. The Joker nearly defeated Team USA until Curry stepped up.

Furthermore, Perkins expressed concerns about the San Antonio Spurs star’s longevity, comparing his career to that of Yao Ming. Additionally, he believes that the maximum number of titles Wembanyama could win in his career would be three. However, we mustn’t overlook how much Wembanyama has achieved at such a young age. With this loss likely fueling his fire, we can hardly wait to see what he has in store for his opponents.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.