Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season has been nothing short of incredible, as the French star has lived up to the hype in his first year in the NBA. The presumptive Rookie of the Year is averaging 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game for the Spurs.
What’s scary is it feels like Wemby is still just scratching the surface, still figuring out exactly all of the things he can do and learning how to harness his outrageous abilities on both ends of the floor. The thing that’s been particularly fun to watch is how the rest of the league has reacted to the preposterous things Wembanyama’s capable of doing on the floor. Opposing players can’t help but watch in awe as he makes insane blocks, massive dunks, and stretches his range out well beyond the three-point arc.
A player that tall with that much length shouldn’t be able to move or handle the ball as well as Wemby does, and even the best basketball players in the world can’t help but shake their heads when he does some stuff on the floor. We got a tremendous example of that on Sunday night in Philly, as the Spurs pushed the Sixers to overtime thanks to another big night from Wembanyama, who hit a sidestepping three in the corner right in front of the Philly bench to the dismay of all the Sixers sitting behind him.
The Sixers bench was mesmerized after Victor Wembanyama’s triple 😂pic.twitter.com/NgipwqjHmS
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 8, 2024
Just look at those faces! I really do love how often top 0.001 percent athletes are just staring at Wemby like he’s an alien. It’s the thing that makes him feel particularly unique, because while us mere mortals are in awe of most anyone in the NBA’s size and athleticism, what he’s doing is so ridiculous even those guys go “oh he’s different.”