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With the 2024 Paris Olympics officially in the rearview mirror, Team France and San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama had a message for the rest of the world: “I’m learning, and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years,” he said, as Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The 7-foot-4, 20-year-old Frenchman is already must-see TV, helping set an Olympic mark with 19.5 million people watching the gold medal match against the United States, the most since the 1996 games, The Athletic reported. For context, the 2024 NBA Finals averaged 11.3 million viewers, according to Forbes.
It’s Hard Not to Love Victor Wembanyama
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GettyFrance’s #32 Victor Wembanyama cries after the USA won the men’s Gold Medal basketball match between France and USA during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Whether you’re an old head who can remember when big men lumbered down the court, finding their spot in the post, patiently waiting for an entry pass with their back to the basket, or you’re a newer fan who is used to seeing big men sprinting down the court, running towards the rim with the athleticism and grace of a guard, you can appreciate that Wembanyama’s skillset is something we’ve never seen before.
He has the size of a center, the handle of a guard and the shooting touch of a forward. He has excellent vision, by all reports is a great teammate, and maybe my personal favorite aspect, he seems to really care about his team and his performance, as evidenced by his teary farewell to the French fans after their Silver medal performance.
To recap, we’ve got a player who can’t even buy a drink in the United States, who relishes the big pressure moments, has skills unlike any player that has ever lived and he’s humble enough to realize he has a lot to learn. Wow.
The Ceiling Is Unimaginable
In his rookie NBA season, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 3.6 blocks with a shooting line of .465/.435/.796. He won the Rookie of the Year award, he made the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team and he finished second for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
What’s even scarier is his improvement over the season. He averaged 23.5 points, 12 rebounds and 5.3 assists after the NBA All-Star break, improving both his offensive rating (107) and defensive rating (101), while going from a minus-6.0 on the court to a plus-2.4.
Defensively, Wembanyama led the league in blocks, despite playing just 29.7 minutes per game. There’s more to defense than successful blocks, of course, and Wembanyama shined there too. Opponents shot a dreadful 53.6% against Wembanyama inside six feet, representing a 10.7% dropoff from their season averages. Inside 10 feet, they shot 8.6% worse.
Wembanyama’s Going Through Leadership 101
It’s not unusual for Wembanyama to be the center of attention on his teams, being forced into being the defacto on-court leader. The 2023-24 San Antonio Spurs weren’t filled with stars by any means, and in fact, they had just as many players under the age of 20 (1, Sidy Cissoko) as they did over the age of 28 (1, Doug McDermott). Having legendary coach Gregg Popovich teaching him all season is about as good as one could do in the NBA.
He’s going to get some help on and off the court in 2024-25, as the Spurs brought in veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes to continue to teach Wembanyama what it means to be an NBA professional, navigating the grind of an 82-game season when your time and attention is in demand at all times.
Take Hakeem Olajuwon’s defensive presence, add in Kevin Durant‘s offensive mindset, sprinkle LeBron James playmaking and you have what Wembanyama looks to be. If he finds some Kevin Garnett nasty and some Kobe Bryant next-level focus, we’re going to be pining for him to be the new NBA logo in a few decades.
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