Victor Wembanyama has been busy this summer, but he's yet to check off a bucket list item in FIBA play.
Around the NBA, maybe no one means more to basketball in their country than Luka Doncic does to Slovenia. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are better players, sure, but Slovenia has never really been a sporting power. Serbia has Novak Djokovic, and Greece, which has never been basketball-crazy, hasn't seemed to adopt Antetokounmpo.
Victor Wembanyama, if he were to win Olympic gold, could rival Doncic's status in his home country, but for now, he isn't experienced enough to have that sort of global impact.
Wembanyama has spent this summer working to improve his status with France, which is already glowing. He's appeared in two exhibition games for the French National Team against Serbia, as they prepare for FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
His next game, though, won't be quite as star-studded.
Luka Doncic to Miss FIBA Game vs. France
This summer, Doncic is going through a messy separation from his ex-fiancée and is recovering from an injury that kept him out of the NBA playoffs. He's been in Los Angeles, preparing for the Lakers' upcoming season.
No one can really blame him for skipping out on FIBA events, although Wembanyama relishes any chance he can to play against the Slovenian superstar.
"You take the games as they are, the rosters as they are, and the competitive reality means that deep down, I'm a bit gutted not to be playing against Luka. But the opportunity will come round again," said Wembanyama.
France and Slovenia will play on Thursday at 2:00 PM EST. They will play at the Accor Arena in Paris. The last time Wembanyama was there, he had to watch the American National Team wear gold at the 2024 Olympics, while he had to settle for silver.
While Spurs fans might prefer Wembanyama to have a relaxing summer, he absolutely refuses to sit out.
"The World Cup is important because it's an international title we've never had, never won, and even if we had already won it, I'd want to win it," he added.
Of course, winning an NBA title and Olympic gold remains his top priority. The Spurs have a good chance to make it back to the Finals next season, and Wemby's French squad will enter the 2028 Olympic Games behind only the Americans in the odds.
