Victor Wembanyama keeps on losing in a poor San Antonio Spurs team, yet the NBA is terrified
The San Antonio Spurs have won fewer than a quarter of their games but their superstar rookie has cemented himself as basketball’s next big thing, writes The Wall Street Journal’s ROBERT O’CONNELL.
The San Antonio Spurs are unequivocally one of the worst teams in the NBA. They’ve lost more than three times as many games as they’ve won. They’re one of only two teams mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They’re on pace to finish dead last in the Western Conference for the second year in a row.
But to the biggest names in the NBA, the Spurs don’t look like doormats. They look completely terrifying.
The reason is a 7-foot-4 phenom from France who puts his phone on airplane mode at 9 p.m. to read before bed.
Victor Wembanyama hasn’t merely lived up to the hype that followed him across the Atlantic in June, when he was the most heralded No. 1 draft pick since LeBron James. He’s convinced the NBA’s best players, including James himself, that he’s ready to take over the league—and sooner rather than later.
“He doesn’t have a ceiling,” James said of Wembanyama, who is still just 20 years old. “He can do whatever he wants to do with his career.”
James made his comment after the rookie stuffed every category of the stat sheet against the Los Angeles Lakers: 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and five blocks. Wembanyama had also tallied five steals and blocks the game before, becoming the first player to reach that threshold in back-to-back contests since another heralded young star did so in 1987. His name was Michael Jordan.
Wembanyama plays nothing like James or Jordan. In many ways, that’s the point. He plays like nothing like anyone who has come before him.
The rest of the NBA has spent this season getting accustomed to a giant who, under the guidance of legendary coach Gregg Popovich, collects new skills as easily as he changes a lightbulb. He shoots 3-pointers more often and with a higher hit rate than either James or Jordan did as rookies. With his 8-foot wingspan, he dunks from more outrageous distances. And his defense is already in a class of its own: Wembanyama leads the NBA with 3.4 blocks per game and is in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Wembanyama’s statistics tell only part of the story. The NBA’s superstar class tells the rest. A kid who can’t yet legally partake of Popovich’s famously refined wine selections simply shouldn’t be doing the things he’s done, says the list of icons who have lately gone up against him.
In January, Wembanyama had a bruising back-and-forth with Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, at one point rejecting the two-time MVP’s shot. At All-Star weekend in February, Antetokounmpo licked his wounds and offered praise.
“There’s never going to be anyone else like him,” said the 6-foot-11 Bucks star. “People don’t understand. He’s like 7-5. I was standing next to him. He’s way, way, way taller than me. He can shoot, he can dribble—blah, blah, blah.”
The problem for the Spurs is that the lousiness that let them win last year’s draft lottery and land Wembanyama hasn’t lifted. None of his teammates has appeared on so much as a single All-Star roster, meaning Wembanyama’s performances often feel like scintillating trailers for a yet-to-be-released blockbuster. According to Player Efficiency Rating, Wembanyama is already the 14th-most valuable player in the entire NBA.
The next-closest Spur? Devin Vassell. He was 82nd on the list, entering Saturday.
In an odd way, the lack of help on the roster has only underlined Wembanyama’s bona fides. Opposing defenses focus their game plans on stopping him, and still he has burst right through the fabled “rookie wall,” scoring nearly four more points per game after the calendar flipped to 2024 than before.
“He’s got a target on his back. They’re going to come after him, they’re going to be physical,” Popovich said, adding, “He’s learning every night.”
Only one person in professional basketball, it seems, is unimpressed by Wemby’s rookie season. That would be Wemby himself.
After matching Jordan’s defensive feat, he wondered if Jordan’s numbers came in victories or defeats. He hoped he could “look back and think this is a good performance,” he said. “As of today, I can’t be satisfied with a loss.”
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The players who have spent a generation gobbling up championships are quite certain he won’t have to be satisfied with losing for much longer, as he matures and the Spurs build around him. In the meantime, those established stars appreciate their good fortune to be playing now, not later.
“It’s just insane how dominant he’s going to be as he gets more comfortable in the game,” 35-year-old Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant said last month. “Luckily, I’m on my way out, so I won’t have to deal with it too much.”
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