Teen prodigy Wembanyama MVP in French league’s All-Star game

Dec 29, 2022, 5:20 PM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 9:03 am

FILE - France's Victor Wembanyama reacts during the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers match between France and Bosnia Herzegovina in Pau, southwestern France, Nov. 14, 2022. Wembanyama is leading the French league with averages of 22.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. And those are his final numbers as an 18-year-old. He turns 19 on Jan. 4, 2023. His Metropolitans 92 club is 11-4 so far this season in France. (AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)

(AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)

PARIS (AP) — French teen prodigy Victor Wembanyama embellished his fast-growing reputation when he became the youngest MVP in the French league’s All-Star game.

The 18-year-old Wembanyama finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on Thursday night as the All-Star France team won 136-128 against the All-Star World team — an annual contest between French and non-French players in the French league’s LNB.

The 7-foot-3 Wembanyama is considered the likely top pick in the 2023 NBA draft next June and is a near-certainty to be the first top-five draft pick from France.

In the two months since his jaw-dropping performances in two exhibition games in Las Vegas, “Wembamania” has swept France with sold-out games whenever he plays for Paris-based Metropolitans 92.

Wembanyama is leading the French league with averages of 22.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. And those are his final numbers as an 18-year-old. He turns 19 on Jan. 4, 2023.

He hit a purple patch from early November to early December with a streak of four consecutive 30-or-more-point games.

Wembanyama’s international career got off to a good start and he is 2-0 with Olympic silver medalist France, with 39 points scored and 13 rebounds in those two games.

France plays Lithuania and the Czech Republic in February.

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