Most wouldn’t use the word “memorable” to describe the San Antonio Spurs’ 2024-2025 season. Most people aren’t Victor Wenbanyama. In meeting with the media for the first time since February, Wemby told ClutchPoints exactly why he described the organization’s past year that way.
Given that the Spurs head into this season with recent All-Star De’Aaron Fox and likely Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle in the mix, ClutchPoints asked the generational big man if he’s already excited about next season.
“Of course. I’m not going to expand on that too much because it all remains to do for me,” Wembanyama responded, alluding to his recovery from injury.
“I’m hungry. I will be ready.”
It was the second portion of a mini-conversation with the 7-foot-5 center during the team’s end-of-year availability.
Victor Wembanyama reflects on Spurs season that was
Because Wemby’s season ended right after the All-Star Break due to blood clots in his right shoulder, it’s not the year he would’ve preferred. That doesn’t mean the season left a bad taste in his mouth.
“There’s some great memories I’m thinking about,” the Spurs leading scorer told ClutchPoints. “The Christmas game in New York and the whole trip, the Paris games, those are all incredible memories. There’s even more to remember about the season. The L.A. situation, we were there for a while. It’s all about adaptation, so we adapted.”
The Spurs played the New York Knicks on Christmas day and the Brooklyn Nets a couple of days later. The trip to France in late January represented a homecoming for Wembanyama. The team had been in Los Angeles two weeks earlier during the area’s tragic wildfires.
Wemby then pivoted to what occurred on the court this past season. His injury, along with the absence of Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich, came to mind first.
“Looking back, a lot happened – a lot unexpected, of course. Whether it’s my stop in the season or even Pop and learning what happened to him.”
Popovich suffered a mild stroke five games into the year and did not return to the bench. Wembanyama played in just 46 games while Fox was shut down in mid-March with a finger injury that had plagued him since the preseason. The Spurs initially struggled with the injuries before putting up some impressive outings.
“Looking back, I think my teammates really showed some incredible things in the past months and really built for the future,” the 2023 first overall draft pick told ClutchPoints as he pointed to a specific.
“I think we probably have a big reward for that because I think Steph pretty much did the job for getting Rookie of the Year, and if he does the job, I think he’s got it on lock,” Wemby said of Castle.
In making his first All-Star Game, Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, and 3.7 assists per game in helping the Spurs to 12 more wins than the year before, with plenty of memories along the way.
“We’ve still got some incredible memories and incredible rewards for the season.”
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