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

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer

PARIS (AP) — Adieu France, hello America. Victor Wembanyama bid farewell to his teammates and the French league, before jetting off for what many predict will be a glittering NBA career. Wembanyama’s performance — 22 points, seven rebounds and four blocks — 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, the game was 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. Next week, the San Antonio Spurs are expected to make the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.