Shaquille O’Neal watched Victor Wembanyama overwhelm the Dallas Mavericks, then reached into his Los Angeles Lakers past to explain what impressed him most.
Kobe Bryant came to mind.
Wembanyama finished with 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks in San Antonio’s 112-111 victory on Wednesday, November 4. But for O’Neal, the performance also reflected something he recognized from his former Lakers teammate: the determination to answer a bad game with something opponents would remember.
“I wonder if he said coming into the game, ‘I need to score 50 tonight,’” O’Neal said during the postgame discussion. “I played with a guy who was like that in Kobe Bryant, rest in peace. But that’s how you respond when you have a bad game.”
Shaq Connects Victor Wembanyama’s Response to Kobe Bryant
O’Neal’s comparison centered on the response. He was describing the mentality behind Wembanyama’s performance, drawing on years spent alongside Bryant with the Lakers.
The two won three consecutive championships together, giving O’Neal a close view of Bryant’s approach to scoring and competition.
Wembanyama gave him a fresh example Wednesday.
In his previous appearance, a November 2 win over Utah, Wembanyama scored 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, according to his Basketball Reference game log. He also committed five turnovers.
Against Dallas, he scored 40 more points and committed just one turnover.
“He came the first half. He was focused. He played to his size,” O’Neal said. “Scored a lot of points from two early. Wasn’t really making it from three, but it didn’t matter. He was doing everything else.”
The shooting breakdown supports that assessment. Wembanyama went 16-for-28 overall despite finishing just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. That left him 15-for-20 on 2-point attempts, a 75% conversion rate.
He added 19 points on 23 free-throw attempts. Fifty-two points, with only three coming from outside the arc.
Wembanyama’s Historic Spurs Game Had a Familiar Shaq Element
The Lakers connection extended beyond Bryant’s mentality. O’Neal knows what a 50-point, 20-rebound performance feels like: He recorded 61 points and 23 rebounds against the Clippers on March 6, 2000.
Wembanyama added eight blocks to his own scoring and rebounding avalanche, along with two steals and nine offensive rebounds in 34 minutes.
His first half alone produced a historical milestone. Associated Press reporter Raul Dominguez reported that Wembanyama became the first player in the NBA’s play-by-play era, beginning in 1996-97, to record at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a half. He had 29, 15 and five.
San Antonio still won by only a point. Wembanyama finished plus-23, underscoring how much work the Spurs needed from him to survive Dallas.
O’Neal’s praise reflected both the production and the standard behind it.
“When you’re a great player, you never want to have two bad games in a row,” he said.
Wembanyama’s outside shot remained unreliable Wednesday. His response did not.
Lakers Legend Shaq Invokes Kobe Bryant After Victor Wembanyama’s Historic Night