SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Victor Wembanyama, all 7-feet-4 of him, stretched out while sitting quietly in the visitors locker room and playing chess on his cellphone to relax after yet another San Antonio Spurs loss. While the Frenchman’s stellar play would suggest otherwise, he was fatigued after his first NBA All-Star break was limited to two days.
Playoffs? No, there will be no playoffs for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft after his former team Metropolitans 92 played in the French Pro A Finals the past two seasons.
“It’s not supposed to be easy. We also love the struggle and the efforts we need to make. So, yeah, it’s part of the game,” Wembanyama conceded after losing to the Kings 127-122 on Feb. 22.
Perhaps lost in all of the Spurs’ losing is that Wembanyama is having a stellar rookie season worthy of All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year consideration.
Wembanyama averages 20.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 3.3 blocks, 1.3 steals and 1.6 3-pointers made in just 28.6 minutes. The 7-foot-4, 210-pounder leads the NBA in blocks, ranks 13th in the NBA in rebounding and is 12th in the NBA and tops among centers in steals. Moreover, Wembanyama’s points per minute (0.725) is the highest by a rookie since NBA icon Michael Jordan (0.736), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
With 23 games left in the season, Wembanyama also has the fifth-most games with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks as a rookie since the 1973-74 season.
“He is getting better and better and continuing to build and build on both ends of the court,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson told Andscape. “Ultimately, it makes it better for everyone else when he’s playing the way he’s playing. He’s upped it up a notch for all of us.”
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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said that his star rookie has exceeded expectations and evokes memories of Spurs legend and Hall of Famer David Robinson. The 7-1 Robinson averaged 24.3 points, 12 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 1.7 steals for the Spurs during the 1989-90 season en route to the 1990 NBA Rookie of the Year award.
“It’s more than I expected as far as the stats are concerned,” Popovich said. “I didn’t know he was going to lead the league in shot blocking. It’s kind of like the David Robinson thing. We’d finish a game and start taking David for granted so much. We’d say, ‘Damn, David, did he rebound tonight? What did he score tonight?’ I’m thinking he got 12, 15 points. And you look at the stats and was 24 points and 11 rebounds and three blocks. And you didn’t realize it while the game was going on because you expect it from him.”
While Wembanyama has been stellar as a rookie, Popovich said there is a lot for him to do the rest of the season.
Popovich said what Wembanyama has been concentrating on the most is making his game tighter by understanding how defenses focus on him. Wembanyama averages 3.5 turnovers, which Popovich mentioned needs improvement. The Spurs coaching staff is also working with Wembanyama on how to adjust to playing in a crowd when he brings the ball up on the break, dealing with double-teams and being cautious with thirsty defenders when engaging in his naturally high dribble.
“So, the whole thing has been an education in the sense that he’s learning the league,” Popovich said. “He’s understanding the ability of these players — the physicality, the speed of the players — so that he tightens his game up and makes it a little bit more solid in certain situations. If he’s getting doubled on the post or if he’s going to be driving into the paint and everybody’s shifted and crowded and all that, he’s got to get rid of it at the right time.
“And when you’re as talented as he is, there’s a lot of things he can do. But the differentiating factor for him is going to be, and fortunate for us, he can really pass the basketball. He sees things now. Sometimes it’s a sloppy pass or it was a pass that maybe he had a little too much muster around it. He didn’t realize who the receiver was, that sort of thing. So, all the basics — jump-stopping, pivoting rocker steps.”
Popovich also spent time with Wembanyama on the Spurs team plane from San Antonio to Sacramento on Feb. 21 watching video of some of the NBA’s greats such as Jordan, former Spurs star Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale and Hakeem Olajuwon.
“Not to make him them, but [we wanted him] to see really solid footwork and movement by fundamentally sound players. We’re trying to get that into him,” Popovich said.
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Wembanyama is a willing learner who stated that he is “just a student of this league. I don’t really know how everything works,” during Rising Stars practice on Feb. 16. Wembanyama said of the film session with Popovich: “What is hard is recognizing what situations we can use from them. It looks easy, but it’s actually the hard part of being a professional.”
Johnson says Wembanyama has been impressive off the court with his discipline, diet and focus.
Wembanyama turned 20 years old on Jan. 4, but he moves with the maturity of someone three times his age. He said during NBA All-Star Weekend that his phone goes into sleep mode after 9 p.m. on off days so he can ensure that he goes to sleep earlier. Wembanyama appears to view his social media as a promotional tool rather than a personal fascination. His Instagram page, which has 4 million followers, most recently included ads for his new partnership with Louis Vuitton, Nike and Topps Cards, a picture of him next to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James in a recent games, and Spurs pictures. His favorite pastime is believed to be playing chess on his cellphone.
“There is no pressure to him,” Johnson said. “He’s built for the moment. He’s built for everything that comes with it. He’s a real professional and this is his first year. To see how strict he is, being a professional, locking in with everything he does, sleep, diet … he doesn’t surprise me with the way he flourishes with everything he does. He prepares to be successful.
“His phone is off at 9, 9:30 [p.m.]. He reads books every day. He is always talking to the nutritionist every day making sure he is putting the right things in his body. All the things you hear, that’s real stuff. He really locks into those things.”
The Spurs have a solid young core of talented players including Wembanyama, Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and Tre Jones. However, help from veteran players is needed for San Antonio to compete in the deep Western Conference next season. An NBA All-Star-caliber player at guard could be potentially beneficial.
The Spurs will have their first-round pick in 2024 and may land one owned by the Toronto Raptors if it falls out of the top 7 this year. San Antonio could potentially enter free agency with nearly $36 million in cap space, according to Bobby Marks, NBA front office insider for ESPN. Playing alongside Wembanyama could be a draw for free agents.
Perhaps one example of how Wembanyama shows his age is his sense of urgency. He always has high expectations of himself. At age 12 in 2016, he said, he dreamed of playing for France in the Olympics. Wembanyama will be playing for France during the 2024 Paris Games.
Wembanyama was asked last week what his 12-year-old self would have thought if he was told he would be at NBA All-Star Weekend.
“My 12-year-old self would have probably said something like, ‘Why not earlier? Why not the year before?’ ” Wembanyama responded.
Wembanyama said the Spurs not only want to win, but they want to be in the playoffs soon. Considering the Spurs’ past success of five NBA titles since 1999, the franchise is expected to make the effort to get back to its winning reputation with its giant leading the way.
“I’ve been told never to skip steps my whole life, but that didn’t stop me from running up the stairs,” Wembanyama said. “So, yeah, of course [winning is] something I want to be a part of in the future.”
