Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 rookie phenom, was considered a generational NBA prospect when they took him with the No. 1 pick in last June’s draft. Now, more than halfway through his debut season, it is starting to become clear just how special he is.
Wembanyama has stepped up his game since the start of January, and on Monday versus the Toronto Raptors, he had a game to remember. He scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked 10 shots for an uncommon triple-double that included double-digit blocks.
He also had five assists, which brought him somewhat adjacent to a quadruple-double, a statistical accomplishment that is truly elusive.
Fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves said he knew Wembanyama would become great but that he didn’t know it would happen this soon.
To illustrate how rare Wembanyama’s triple-double was, he was the first rookie since David Robinson, who, of course, also played for San Antonio, to record one with at least 10 blocks and only the fourth rookie ever to do so.
In the early weeks of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren seemed to be the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. But it’s becoming clear that Wembanyama will likely win that honor.
Since the start of this calendar year, he is averaging 22.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.3 blocks a game while shooting 50.1 percent from the field. Those numbers are all the more impressive when one considers he has been playing a mere 26.9 minutes a contest during that time.
The Spurs have a rather awful team around Wembanyama right now, but with the third-worst record in the NBA, perhaps they will get to draft another star in June and establish the foundation for what could become another great team in the coming years.
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