Victor Wembanyama is doing things that no one in NBA history has ever done. Fans need to realize the absurdity of what we are watching firsthand. Wembanyama is this generation’s Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but on an even higher trajectory, and has a real chance to become the greatest basketball player of all time. The rarity of being able to say that cannot be understated.
Wembanyama is coming off only his third NBA season, where he averaged monstrous numbers of 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. Wembanyama unanimously won the Defensive Player of the Year award this season, becoming the first player ever to do so. His all-around offensive skillset, paired with his 7-foot-4 frame and arguably the most incredible defensive tools the league has ever seen, make him nearly unstoppable.
What Wembanyama is doing for the San Antonio Spurs right now is unfathomable. The Spurs are a storied franchise, winning five NBA championships from 1999 to 2014, but have been down on their luck this decade. However, they struck gold with the first overall pick in 2023, selecting the French phenom Wembanyama, who has brought immense hope back to the city of San Antonio.
Not only are Wembanyama's statistics ridiculous, but his impact on winning is irreplaceable. The Spurs won just 22 of 82 games in Wembanyama’s rookie season, but his superstar flashes were shown on a subpar roster. In 2024-25, they slightly improved, finishing 34-48, but Wembanyama only played in 46 games that season due to a blood clot scare.
This season, however, with a 64-game sample size of Wembanyama, the Spurs went 62-20, finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and just dethroned the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014.
In his first playoff run, Wembanyama is currently averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. For NBA standards, a season averaging two blocks per game would make a player almost automatically earn All-Defensive First Team honors, if not the Defensive Player of The Year award. Wembanyama has excelled past that mark as only a 22-year-old, and his ability to continue elevating his numbers in this year’s playoffs makes it even more impressive.
Wembanyama made one of the loudest statements he possibly could have in the first game of the Western Conference Finals. He went on the road to Oklahoma City, facing the defending champs and the man who beat him out for MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and dominated. 41 points, 24 rebounds and 3 blocks is an absurd stat line, especially in the NBA playoffs where defense and intensity are heightened.
Not to mention, with under 30 seconds to go, he launched a fast break three-pointer from 30 feet out while trailing the Thunder by three points and nailed it. Wembanyama having the confidence to take that shot standing at 7-foot-4 as a 22-year-old in his first Conference Finals is something that screams all-time great. The cherry on top was the fact that the Spurs stole that Game 1 win in Oklahoma City.
Wembanyama shone throughout the series, but in Game 6, down 3-2 with his back against the wall, he put on another show. His 28 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the pivotal Game 6 willed the Spurs to keep their championship hopes alive.
Then, the Spurs closed out the series on the road yet again on Saturday night as they ended the defending champions’ season with a Game 7 victory.
It’s easy to see that Wembanyama has a deep love for the game of basketball. Several videos have surfaced of him breaking down in tears after the Game 7 win and embracing his teammates like he couldn’t be prouder. An all-time level talent like Wembanyama, who gives constant effort and doesn’t hold back emotions, gives the NBA an amazing face of the league for years to come.
Regardless of what happens in the finals against the New York Knicks, Wembanyama has already shown he is a never-before-seen talent. The things he can do all over the court at 7-foot-4, both offensively and defensively, make it hard to imagine that he does not go down as at least a top five player in NBA history. No matter where his career goes, though, fans need to truly appreciate what they are having the pleasure of watching in real time.
@JackMuldowney1
