Victor Wembanyama had a lackluster opener in the 2026-2027 NBA season as the San Antonio Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 116-104.
Wembanyama finished the game with a double-double, recording 12 points and 13 rebounds, alongside 3 assists, 6 blocks, and 1 steal in 34 minutes of play.
Victor Wembanyama’s Career-Worst Performance Vs OKC
However, he struggled immensely to find his rhythm from the floor, shooting a dismal 1-of-13 (7.7%) from the field and missing all 4 of his three-point attempts. He missed his first 12 shots of the evening, finally scoring his lone field goal on a reverse slam right at the third-quarter buzzer.
It was Wembanyama’s worst shooting night of his professional career.
Despite the defensive clamps from the Thunder, he salvaged his scoring night by aggressively drawing contact, converting 10-of-12 free throws.
Wembanyama anchored the paint with six blocks and showcased his reigning Defensive Player of the Year brilliance. However, his 4 turnovers ultimately contributed to the Spurs’ 116-104 opening night defeat.
The Thunder were dominant from start to finish, leading by as much as 26 points. The Spurs showed some fight in the second half but ultimately succumbed to OKC.
OKC lost to the Spurs in seven games in the Western Conference Finals last season.
Victor Wembanyama Makes Bold Statement About San Antonio Spurs Before The Season
Victor Wembanyama had this to say about dealing with last season’s heartbreakers, which included a five-game loss in the NBA Finals against the eventual champions New York Knicks.
“Obviously, we have to go through some emotions, and you do some of that alone. But it’s better to do it as a team,” Wembanyama said on media day. “I take a lot of positive things of everything we did this summer. Just being together, honestly, it was amazing. Especially Paris for me, that was really touching, very emotional for me.”
“[Dealing with the loss] It’s not over. It evolves with time, but I’ve had a few sleepless nights, maybe not sleepless nights, but hard to find sleep sometimes… But there’s just a point where you accept that you have to go through it and you have to feel all of it, and we don’t want to hide from anything. So, we’re gonna face these emotions. Face the reality that we have 100 games to play [to get back to the NBA Finals]. And this is the reality of it. We’re in a great spot. We’re very hopeful, very ambitious, and we’re ready.”
Wembanyama also opened up on the Spurs being one of the targeted teams this season after becoming the West champions last season.
“It feels like we’re in our place. It already felt like this last year when we were getting closer to the top of the conference. It feels normal. I would say it felt weird not being in that place in the past,” he said.
Wemby has a chance to regain his form in the second game of the season.
The next Spurs game is against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, Oct. 24, 9:30 PM ET (8:30 PM CT / 9:30 AM PHT) at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Victor Wembanyama Posts Career-Worst Performance In Spurs Season Opener Vs OKC