Lakers’ LeBron James Showers Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama With Praise: ‘He Doesn’t Have A Ceiling’

Even though the Lakers beat the Spurs by a final score of 123-118, LeBron and Co. didn’t have any answers for Wembanyama, who finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and five blocks in 30 minutes. 

“He doesn’t have a ceiling,” LeBron said about Wembanyama, via ESPN. “He can do whatever he wants to do with his career. It seems like he enjoys the game. It seems like he puts in the work. Just from the outside looking in, I’m not with him on a day-to-day basis, but I said a long time ago how special he was, and it’s literally that simple.”

Wembanyama joined Jamaal Tinsley (2001) as the only NBA rookies to have a 5×5 game, posting at least five points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks in a game. The Spurs star also became just the second player to have five blocks and five steals in consecutive games, joining Hall of Famer Michael Jordan.

“As far as your question as far as havoc [defensively], there are guys in our league that you have to account for any time you get around the rim or around the perimeter in our league history, and he sits right at the top of it, [if not] around the top, with all the greats,” LeBron said about Wembanyama. “He’s one of them to have like a stellar rookie season. Guys that have come in and [dominated]. But it’s, can you sustain it? We’ve had guys that have come in and just been really damn [good]. I think the one thing that Wemby has above all the guys that I kind of named is you see his length.”

Wembanyama is the 15th player in NBA history to record a 5×5 and the first since Jusuf Nurkic in 2019. He also became the second player with a line of 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, who did it four times.

Wembanyama is averaging 20.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.3 blocks this season while shooting 46.6% from the field, 31.8% from 3 and 81.4% from the free-throw line. He leads the NBA in blocks and blocks per game.