San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Branham ready to play ‘next man up’
With Devin Vassell likely to miss the game due to a minor injury, second-year guard Malaki Branham is preparing to start Sunday afternoon when the Spurs host Toronto.
A Spurs spokesman said Saturday that Vassell has a mild left groin strain after he underwent an MRI on Friday. He is considered day-to-day but will likely miss the contest against the Raptors.
“It’s just the next man up mentality,” Branham said of his approach to filling in for Vassell. “I’ve been in this position a couple of times last year, so this is not new to me.”
Branham started 32 games as a rookie last season after the Spurs drafted him 20th overall following his freshman season at Ohio State.
Vassell suffered the injury late in the first half of the Spurs’ 132-121 win at Phoenix after scoring 17 points. He sat out the second half, which began with Branham starting in his place.
Vassell’s 19.4 per-game scoring average ranks second on the Spurs to rookie forward Victor Wembanyama’s teamleading 20.6.
After averaging 10.2 points per game across 66 appearances last season, Branham is off to a slow start this season. He’s averaging 6.2 points on 30% shooting from the field and 27.8% from 3-point range on 3.6 attempts after finishing Thursday’s game with 3 points on 1 of 7 from the floor and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.
“I’ve struggled, but I need to just keep believing in myself and stay confident,” he said. “My coaches have confidence in me, my teammates have confidence in me.”
Branham was asked if he tweaked his shot after Thursday’s game.
“No, just shoot the ball with confidence,” he said after practice. “Just keep shooting. I know they’re going to fall with the work I put in this summer. I just need to trust that.”
Spurs reserve forward Doug McDermott said the team has “a lot of faith” in Branham.
“Malaki is a very talented player and he’s going to get on a roll,” McDermott said. “He’s going to be able to handle the ball in certain situations and take over some of that scoring Devin provided.”
Spurs vets learning from rookie star
Wembanyama’s teammates, even veterans like McDermott, are learning some valuable lessons from the 19-year-old Frenchman.
McDermott, a 10th-year pro who at 31 is the oldest current Spur, has closely observed Wembanyama’s pre-game warm-up ritual and his actions in the weight room.
“It’s top notch,” McDermott said of Wembanyama’s conditioning work, “and he has a great support system around him that takes care of him. And he has been doing it for a long time. You can tell he is very well-trained with his routines.
“As a 10-year guy, I want to steal some stuff from him, that’s how on top of it him and his team are.”
McDermott was asked for an example of Wembanyama’s cutting edge approach to conditioning and game preparation.
“It’s just certain stuff warming up in the weight room, certain activations that they do that I feel like could help a lot of us,” McDermott said. “We are incorporating some of it into our practices as well. We can all become better pros just by watching Victor as a firstyear guy.”
McDermott has also been impressed with the poise and leadership Wembanyama has shown on the court.
“He’s got a very high IQ, not that I didn’t know that before,” McDermott said. “You are constantly hearing him out there. He is definitely vocal, and that’s rare for a rookie.”
Wemby’s big night supplants Parker
With his 38 point outburst Thursday night in leading the Spurs to a 132-121 win over the Suns, Wembanyama became the youngest French player to score 30-plus in an NBA game.
The 7-foot-3 forward eclipsed Spurs great Tony Parker, who was 20 when he scored 32 points in 35 minutes in a win over Dallas on Dec. 11, 2002.
“It’s a source of pride,” Wembanyama said in French to French reporters after Thursday’s game. “Not just for me. I hope but for France. I know that many will benefit from it in the future in France.”
The record for most points scored by a French rookie in an NBA game is 40, set by Rodrigue Beaubois with Dallas in 2010 when he was 22. Wembanyama is No. 2 on that list with his 38 points.
Parker still holds the record for the most points scored by a Frenchman in an NBA game. He pumped in 55 points in a win over Minnesota in double overtime on Nov. 5, 2008. Wembanyama is fourth on that list. Rounding out the top four are Evan Fournier (41 points in 2022), Beaubois (40 points in 2010). Nicolas Batum is fifth with 35 points in 2017.