December 24, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
The Sixers would not have survived Victor Wembanyama's onslaught without the two-way contributions of Guerschon Yabusele.
Guerschon Yabusele's answer sounded familiar.
As someone who spent the summer as Victor Wembanyama's teammate for the French men's national team in the 2024 Olympics, Yabusele knew what he was going to be asked on Monday morning.
What will your approach be to stopping the San Antonio Spurs' 20-year-old phenom?
"I think the biggest key for us," Yabusele said, "will be staying physical and trying to bother him as much as possible."
Nearly 12 hours later, Yabusele took a seat. He was tired, he said — understandable after a grueling, controversial Sixers win in which he was tasked with slowing down a red-hot Wembanyama during the second half. The first question, naturally: what led to your success defending Wembanyama down the stretch?
"I was just trying to be physical and bother him as much as possible," Yabusele said.
MORE: Sixers-Spurs recap
Yabusele's answer sounded familiar because it was nearly the exact same as the points of emphasis he identified 12 hours earlier. Those focuses came in handy when Andre Drummond was ejected and then un-ejected, Joel Embiid was ejected for real, Drummond went down with a toe injury and KJ Martin left the game with foot soreness. Yabusele was Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's last man standing to handle Wembanyama, so he kept it simple and stuck to the script he had detailed that morning.
Wembanyama is too good to shut down, but Yabusele contained him as much as any player could reasonably be expected to — and whenever Wembanyama did score against Yabusele, he had to earn those points.
Just rewatched all of Victor Wembanyama's shot attempts from Monday night's game.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) December 24, 2024
Here are all of Wembanyama's shots that came with Guerschon Yabusele as his one-on-one defender + Yabusele's two steals which came while defending Wembanyama (he had two other steals elsewhere): pic.twitter.com/22fRmCjwlC
"[Yabusele has] obviously played against [Wembanyama] and knows him," Nurse said. "First of all, he was working really hard. He was putting his body on him. He was making all of his catches tough. [Wembanyama] really hurt us from the perimeter, not really anywhere else... [Yabusele] just worked. He just worked and he was physical."
Yabusele said that his experiences playing with and practicing against Wembanyama during the summer gave him some helpful inklings into how he should handle the assignment. He reiterated the importance of physicality, but also spoke to the importance of the sort of pestering Nurse praised. Perhaps the most crucial aspect, though, was to not be discouraged when the 7-foot-3 flamethrower inevitably makes a ridiculous jumper against terrific defense.
"You've just got to be physical with him every second. Just trying to get in his body," Yabusele said. "Whatever you're going to do, he's going to try to find a solution... You still have to be physical with him. And even when he hits a tough shot, get ready for the next action."
The Sixers are 27 games into their season, and it appears as if it has sunk in for Yabusele that he has not just achieved his long-term goal of returning to the NBA, but is doing more than enough to solidify a lengthy stay in the league he had been desperate to get back to. One of the lone bright spots during a Sixers season which has been hellish, the 29-year-old has done nothing but satisfy his teammates and coaches with unrelenting effort and impressive skill.
"I thought he was awesome," nine-time All-Star Paul George said after the game. "I thought he was a huge boost, especially with Joel going down, Drummond going down, him stepping in, playing big minutes, and then playing both ends. I thought he was special."
One teammate was particularly effusive in his praise for Yabusele on Monday night, uttering the phrase "Yabu's been great" three separate times in one comment.
"Yabu's been great, dude," Tyrese Maxey said. "He's done so many different things: played the five, played the four, started, come off the bench. Like, he's done everything that the coaches have asked him to do. And all you can do is appreciate someone like that, man. Shooting threes, rebounding, posting up. Sometimes we're going to throw the ball to him in the post because he's a matchup problem down there, he knows how to score. Yabu's been great. His defense was amazing tonight. I always mess with him saying he can't switch on guards. He switched on a couple guards and got a few stops. Yabu's been great."
MORE: Has Maxey made a defensive leap?
In every sense of the phrase, Yabusele has bet on himself. He paid an expensive buyout to leave Real Madrid and enable himself to sign with the Sixers on a veteran's minimum contract. He left a secure role in a comfortable situation because he felt in his bones that he was ready for another chance in the NBA. Yabusele did not anticipate that opportunity coming in 2024. But after he and Wembanyama team with former Sixer Nic Batum to lead Team France to a chance at a gold medal, the Sixers called.
When Yabusele told Batum about the potential opportunity in front of him, he said Batum provided a glowing review of Philadelphia and the Sixers.
"I'm happy for [Yabusele]," Batum said November. "He deserved it. He deserved a second chance in this league. He's showing it right now: he belongs in this league."
Yabusele cracked a smile when a reporter asked him about becoming a fan favorite in Philadelphia. After all, nobody knew if Yabusele would even get a chance to be a rotation regular. But two months to the day of Yabusele's Sixers debut, it was abundantly clear how much admiration he had already garnered from the fans. On a night when he stopped one of the NBA's few unstoppable forces, Yabusele — again — expressed gratitude for the position he has found himself in.
"From the beginning, they've been super positive with me, pushing me every time I'm on the court," Yabusele said. "It's been, you know, perfect since I got here. They show me so much love, everything they give me, I'm really feeling that energy for sure, and it makes me want to do more."
MORE: Yabusele, Batum talk special bond
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