From his second season in the NBA, Victor Wembanyama multiplies the statistical successes and asserts himself as one of the best basketball players on the planet. But the Spurs player is not the only “seven footer” (more than 2, 13 m) French to make people talk about him across the Atlantic. At the age of 19 and despite a delicate collective context, Alexandre Sarr also shows that he will have to be counted on in the future.
Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele, Bilal Coulibaly, Zaccharie Risacher and of course Victor Wembanyama… Whether they are grunts or of the new generation, many French players are currently walking the floors of the NBA, ensuring a bright future for basketball tricolor. If he is not the first name on the sheet when discussing this succession, their compatriot Alexandre Sarr nevertheless made a convincing debut in the “Grande league”.
Aged only 19, the pivot has already established himself as the starting position at the Washington Wizards. Solid in attack and defense, he averages 12 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. The Bordeaux native even remains on two particularly successful performances against the New Orleans Pelicans, with two “double doubles” (at least ten units in two statistical categories, in this case points and rebounds, editor’s note). Now well acclimated to his new team, the French basketball player is clearly gaining momentum. The opportunity to learn about this phenomenon in the making.
A very rare profile with “a lot of potential”
Alexandre Sarr is selected in second position in the 2024 draft (lottery in which sixty young prospects are allocated to NBA teams, editor’s note), just behind his compatriot Zaccharie Risacher. His new franchise, the Washington Wizards, was then convinced by his extraordinary profile. Listed at 2.13 m and 93 kg by the official NBA website, the young man has the ideal measurements to play as a pivot. Particularly mobile for his size, explosive on the supports and dissuasive near the circle, he already has all the attributes of the modern defender. Added to this are excellent technique and good touch on the ball. The promise shown in shooting, despite an irregularity that is entirely logical for his age, completes the picture of a future complete pivot capable of spacing the field.
Wizards coach Brian Keefe sees in his young player “lots of potential”emphasizing “its versatility”. “He contributes on both sides of the pitch, especially in defense. He can defend in all positions. He has the qualities to score from anywhere”he declared before the start of the season. “What impresses me is his reading of the game. He’s a good passer. We want to give him the ball in his hands so he can make the play, for himself and for others”he declared again.
A basketball fan since childhood
Having fallen in love with basketball from a very young age, Alexandre Sarr quickly displayed excellent predispositions for this sport. Associated with rare physical attributes – he was already over 2 meters tall at 14 years old – they are enhanced by the ability to repeat the efforts of this workaholic. “They were fans. Alexandre and Olivier (his brother, editor’s note) were always stuffed into the room”jokes in the columns of France 3 Regions Gilles Gombeau, the president of the Union Sportive Bouscataise Basket-ball, one of the young man’s first clubs in the Bordeaux suburbs. “He was always intense and hard-working, because he is a very hard-working person”agrees Bernard Faure, one of his coaches in the French U16, U17 and U19 team, to the Be Basket media.
Alvaro Marsan, who also coached the Frenchman a few years later, in U15, at Toulouse Olympique Aérospatial Club (TOAC), speaks of a “kid with a lot of talent and an impressive physique, a player very different from the others”. “He was 2.05 m tall at 14 years old and could make a 3-pointer after a dribble between his legs (laughs), so clearly not the type of player we meet every day”continues the technician, contacted by Be Basket.
After having completed the start of his studies in France, the nugget joined the Real Madrid training center at just 14 years old, before exporting to give himself the maximum chance. He spent two seasons in Overtime Elite, an American league for 16-20 year olds, before heading to Australia and the NBL. Despite his young age, he found his place with the Perth Wildcats, a professional team which reached the final of its domestic championship.
A brother who also plays at the highest level
From now on, Alexandre Sarr follows in the footsteps of his brother Olivier, who also plays in the NBA, with the ambition of overtaking him. If he has not really succeeded in making his place, the latter, tiptoeing into the United States without having been drafted, has already played 46 games with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, seriously injured, he did not play this season.
This does not prevent the elder from having played a considerable role in the arrival of the younger at the highest level. Even today, Alexandre draws on the advice of Olivier, perfectly familiar with the demands of the Great League and the difficulty of imposing oneself there after three exercises of increasing back and forth between the first team and that of G- League (development training, editor’s note). “Olivier brings me a lot of things. This was already the case before I arrived in the NBA. After each of my matches, we debrief together, he gives me a lot of advice. I learn from his game, and so does he learn a little from mine. We try to help each other progress.”he emphasized to several media outlets last November.
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The neo-“wizard” (the French translation of wizards) can also count on the tutoring of his father Massar, also a professional basketball player in his time. “Growing up at home, all I saw was basketball, there were basketballs everywhere”he jokes. Enough to accompany him towards the summits he hopes to reach.
Maxence GEVIN
2025-01-06 17:16:00