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Wembanyama bids adieu to France with a defeat as the teen prodigy prepares for NBA career

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Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Boulogne-Levallois' Victor Wembanyama, right, reacts with teammate Lahaou Konate, left, during the playoffs of the Elite basketball match Boulogne-Levallois against Monaco at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS ā€“ Adieu France, hello America.

They were hugs of goodbye ā€” not of joy ā€” for Victor Wembanyama as he bid farewell to his teammates and the French league, before jetting off for what many predict will be a glittering NBA career.

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Wembanyama's performance ā€” 22 points, seven rebounds and four blocks ā€” couldn't prevent his Boulogne-Levallois team losing 92-85 to Monaco in a must-win Game 3 in the best-of-five French league championship series on Thursday.

To accommodate escalating interest in seeing the 19-year-old French prodigy, Game 3 ā€” and 4 if they had won ā€” were switched from a 4,000-seat venue to Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, home of the French Open tennis championship which seats more than 14,000.

Fans sang ā€œMerci, Wembyā€ as the hugely popular Wembanyama waved and clapped at them.

ā€œI'm sorry for the fans who love to see a show,ā€ Wembanyama said on beIN Sports television after the game. ā€œOf course I'm proud of what I've managed to do along with my coach (Vincent Collet), in bringing the team to the finals. But I'm not satisfied.ā€

Next week, the San Antonio Spurs are expected to make the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, where heā€™ll follow in the footsteps of France great Tony Parker and Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

With Sacramento Kings owner Vivek RanadivĆ© among the crowd ā€” likely with an eye on Wembanyama teammate Bilal Coulibaly ahead of the draft ā€” the Mets opened up big leads but with 50 seconds left the score was tied at 85-85. Jordan Loyd, a former NBA player with the Toronto Raptors, sank two 3-pointers to end Wembanyama's hopes of signing off with a French crown.

RanadivĆ© told beIN Sport that Wembanyama is ā€œamazingā€ but that ā€œIā€™m also excited about Bilal. Young guy, lot of skills, so French basketball is in great shape.ā€

Wembanyama, who opened the scoring with a reverse alley-oop dunk, looked sad as he hugged his teammates while Monaco celebrated.

ā€œWemby had a great game, but this team's unbelievable,ā€ said Loyd, who finished with 22 points.

Everything had pointed to a special night for Wembanyama and then a Game 4 on Saturday. Wembanyama clenched his fist when his quick bounced pass inside for Devante Jones made it 24-10, then drew roars when he used his giant frame to block a shot early in the second quarter.

The ā€œWemby, Wembyā€ chants became louder when he nailed a 3-pointer to make it 47-37, louder still when he made a no-look spin pass to feed Coulibaly early in the third quarter.

It was not enough, though, and it was ā€œWembyā€ who put Elie Okobo on the foul line to give Monaco its first lead, 82-81, with just over three minutes left.

Loyd ā€” not Wembanyama ā€” ended up with the MVP award and the winners' medal on the court where Novak Djokovic made menā€™s Grand Slam history last Sunday with his 23rd men's major title.

Wembanyama's journey to greatness in his sport, however, might only just be starting.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


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