Victor Wembanyama threw some shade at Ja Morant after their first-ever meeting on Tuesday night. When asked about what he made of Morant's performance, Wembanyama praised the Memphis Grizzlies star but made an interesting comment along the way.
“A good player. Very, very small, so it's hard to catch up on him, and very fast," Wembanyama said. "It's just another great player that I see every night now in the NBA. Everyone got a franchise player like this who's causing problems.”
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Wembanyama just had to slide in "very very small" there. Of course, when you're 7'4" like the Frenchman, even someone who stands at 6'2" like Morant would seem rather small.
As for Wembanyama's play here, he had a solid outing, finishing with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 blocks. It wasn't enough to prevent yet another loss, however, as the Grizzlies won 106-98 to drop the San Antonio Spurs to 5-28 on the season.
As Wembanyama said, every night he is facing a great player who causes problems, and Morant causes more problems than most. He had 26 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 steal in the contest, as the Grizzlies improved to 11-22.
Ja Morant Reacted To His Viral Dunk On Victor Wembanyama
While there were quite a few spectacular moments in this game, there was one that clearly stood out. In the fourth quarter, Morant dunked on Wembanyama, which led to NBA fans going wild. The 24-year-old was asked about that highlight play in his postgame interview and had a hilarious response.
"That's what everybody wanted, so (that's) my late Christmas gift," Morant said.
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I'm not sure Wembanayama and the Spurs wanted that gift, but he forced them to take it anyway. Morant had been battling a sickness recently, but it seems he is now back to his best. The Grizzlies would be hoping he stays healthy for the rest of the season, as that is the only way they have any shot at making the playoffs.
Metta Sandiford-Artest Believes Victor Wembanyama Will Score 101 Points In A Game Someday
Wembanyama has had a great rookie season so far and Metta Sandiford-Artest has been very impressed by what he has seen. When asked about the Frenchman, Artest said Wembanyama is the modern-day Wilt Chamberlain and that he will score 101 points in a game.
"[Victor Wembanyama] is the closest to Wilt [Chamberlain] that we'll ever see. Wilt averaged 13 points his first year with 20+ rebounds. I think this kid is going to beef up, he's gonna get better. He's going to run into a Detroit Pistons from this year, or the Clippers from 20 years ago, and he going to go get 101. At some point in time in the next seven years, he's going to for sure catch a rhythm against a rookie that can't guard, and boom, 101-piece averaging 40. I think you're going to see that from this kid."
I believe Wembanyama, who is averaging 18.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game this season, is going to be an incredibly special player if he stays healthy. I don't see him breaking Wilt's record of 100, though, The 19-year-old already has a career-high of 38, which is quite impressive, but triple-digits would be beyond even his reach.
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