According to ESPN, Spurs rookie Venbanyama will not play in the rest of the summer league. The news was confirmed by Spurs reporter Mike Finger: "This is the end of the summer league schedule in Venbanyamar. The team had planned to only let him play two games, but now management has seen what they want to see and decided to give Venbanyama more time off.
Fans joked that it was in line with Spurs coach Popovich's style, playing only two games and starting to rotate. In the two Summer League games, Venbanyama played an average of 27 minutes per game, scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. His first game wasn't ideal, with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks on 2-of-13 shooting. However, in Game 2, he improved significantly, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocks on 9-of-14 shooting. Venbanyama said in an interview that he didn't know what he was doing.
The first game on the big stage was tough for most players, even the champions. Many Chinese fans must remember that Yao Ming's NBA debut only scored 0 points and 2 rebounds, and once faced doubts and boos. From the perspective of Venbanyama's mentality, he has adjusted very well. Speaking about teammates with Venbanyama, Spurs sophomore pick Blake Wesley said: "It's not difficult to judge the timing of a pass to Venban, you just throw the ball out and he can catch it. Commenting on his performances in these two games, Vimbanyama said: "I think it is necessary to improve in every game and it is normal for me, but I still hope that we can win the final victory! I still have to keep learning. ”
Speaking about the long off-season ahead, Venbanyama said: "The fact that more than 50% of my schedule has been spent in the past month has nothing to do with basketball, which is unbearable! My life is all about playing and training. Since I don't play the World Cup, I have 2-3 months left and I may disappear from social media in the coming days. "It can only be said that with only 2 summer league games, you can't tell whether Venbanyama is a parallel product or not, and the young man still has a long way to go.
But one thing is certain: the potential of Vembanyama has been recognised by the team and coaches. Popovich originally planned to extend his contract with the Spurs for only 3 years, but after the team acquired Vembanyama, he eventually chose to extend his contract for 5 years. The day after Venbanyama made his debut, Spurs officials officially announced that they had signed a five-year contract with Popovich, which reportedly had a total salary of more than $80 million. Popovich is currently 74 years old and apparently signed this contract to accompany Venbanyama through his rookie season, and it is also the largest coaching contract in NBA history. Seeing the news of Popovich's signing, James, the first person in the league, was also the first to tweet congratulations: "Popo! Congratulations! The next dinner can be your treat~" It can be seen that Popovich is really optimistic about Venbanyama, and Popovich came to the scene in both summer league games, and the changes in expressions in the two games were also quite subtle.
The Spurs are known for their team basketball and the way great coaches nurture their rookies, and all of their "command" of Venbanyama today is certainly part of their long-term strategy. Summer League is a great opportunity to try and adjust for a rookie, and Venbanyama has clearly satisfied Spurs management in these two games, so the decision to let him rest for the rest of the summer league is justified.
As for whether the Spurs can use Venbanyama to re-establish the dynasty, this may be too early to determine. But based on the Spurs' history and coach Popovich's experience, it's definitely possible, and if Venbanyama can continue to improve, he could soon become a new core player for the Spurs.
Editor-in-chief: Chen Hua
图片来源：新华社 Source: Author: Yao Qinyi