Broken Dreams for Pau Gasol as Victor Wembanyama & Co. Left Embarrassed by G-League Stars

Pau Gasol suffered the most unexpected upset in his All-Star career. The retired NBA pro’s team was the favorite to win the Rising Stars Challenge with the rookie powerhouse, Victor Wembanyama on his roster. Unfortunately, Wemby stuttered against some outstanding G-League talent. Team Pau lost 41-36 to Team Detlef.

Team Pau was the defending champion following last year’s Rising Stars Challenge. With Jabari Smith Jr. and Bilal Coulibaly on his team, Gasol promised a treat for the fans. No one anticipated his team losing so poorly against players who aren’t even in draft contention yet.

Everyone tuned into the Rising Stars Challenge to watch a powerful team stacked like a Jenga with Wemby, Smith, Coulibaly, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Brandin Podziemski, Brandon Miller, and Cason Wallace. The odds were Gasol would add another Rising Stars trophy to his collection.

Meanwhile, Detlef Schrempf had some NBA G-League standouts in Ypsilanti Lincon, Emoni Bates, and Matas Buzelis along with Izan Almansa, Ron Holland, Mac McClung, Tyler Smith, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Alondes Williams. As talented as they are, analysts didn’t think they’d match up against Wemby.

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McClung led his team with 12 points, while Williams added 11. On the other hand, Wemby had 11 points and 7 rebounds but also recorded 5 turnovers which eventually proved to be detrimental to his team’s chances. Buzelis made the game-winning shot, ending the game with 7 points.

Pau Gasol couldn’t turn the tide

These grossly underestimated underdogs dominated Team Pau. The French phenom opened the game scoring for Team Pau but failed to keep that momentum as Williams tied the score. Gasol was forced to call a timeout and designate Wemby to the bench. By the time he put the Rookie of the Year frontrunner back in play, they managed to cut the lead.

Schrempf too reorganized his team by then. Buzelis furthered the lead and McClung made free throws. Team Pau still had hope when the score was 39-36 and Wemby was in defensive mode, blocking every shot he could. But Buzelis turned the tide, knocking down a two-pointer to get a win.

This not only ended Gasol’s hope for back-to-back wins but also ended fans’ anticipation to see Wemby vs Chet Holmgren in the finals. That was a matchup left between Team Detlef and Team Jalen.

As great as these G-League stars were at taking down NBA rookie faves, they couldn’t compete against the hometown hero Bennedict Mathurin. He took the Rising Stars MVP crown after leading Team Jalen to win. Which was the biggest shocker at the Rising Stars Challenge in your opinion?

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