On a near-nightly basis, Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs does things on a basketball court that have never been done before, and that was once again the case with his performance in the team’s 136-108 blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Along with setting numerous records with his 40 points in only 26 minutes, perhaps one statistic from his game against the Lakers stands out to show Wembanyama’s dominance in just his third NBA season.
According to the NBA’s official record books, Wembanyama has now passed five-time champion Tim Duncan, perhaps the best and most successful player in franchise history, in 40-point games. The young French star has only played in 156 total games compared to Duncan’s 1392, but now has six 40-point games, compared to the Big Fundamental’s five.
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Wembanyama started the game in Los Angeles shot out of a cannon, scoring 25 points in the first quarter, and ended the first half with 37, both of which were the most of his career. The seven-and-a-half-foot-tall center recently received his first All-Star starter selection, and games like the one versus the Lakers make it easy to see why.
Victor Wembanyama’s Historic Stat Line Against The Lakers
Along with passing Duncan in 40-point games, Wembanyama set multiple records with his total stat line of 40 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block in only 26 minutes.
Those include the most points in a quarter (25) and most points in a half (37) in franchise history. he also scored 40 points in the quickest amount of time since Sleepy Floyd did it in 1991. While the 40 points are tied for the third-most in his career, Wembanyama said he wanted to have an even more impressive statline.
“I was also pushing to go back, but I mean, they did the right thing by keeping me on the bench,” Wembanyama said, according to ESPN’s Tim McMahon. “We got to think long term. But yeah, these kind of games, you got to have the greed. I mean, every game you have to have this greed to want more every time, because you know at all times it doesn’t matter who’s on the court, it’s somebody who’s going to want to stop you from doing what you do out there. So you got to be greedy.”
But while the point total was still ten away from his career-high, the most impressive aspect about Wembanyama’s stat line was how quickly and efficiently he put up those numbers. The big man shot 13/20 from the field, 4/6 from three-point range, and 10/12 from the free throw line.
“What got me going was just honestly proving myself a point, proving my team a point,” he added. “I’m not worried about us, not worried about me against good teams, but history has showed that I need to be worried about us against teams like this. So yeah, I mean, we don’t just talk about what we need to do. We need to actually act.”
Wembanyama is now tied with Manu Ginobili and LaMarcus Aldridge for the fourth-most 40-point games in Spurs’ history. Only Mike Mitchell (10), David Robinson (22), and George Gervin (67) have more.
Spurs Call Out Lakers, LeBron James For All-Star Selection
While Wembanyama led headlines for his performance against the Lakers, the Spurs team made sure to have their feelings heard after beating Los Angeles, a team that had two All-Star selections in Luka Doncic and LeBron James, compared to their just one.
De’Aaron Fox had previously commented about not getting the All-Star nod, throwing shade at Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam, but this time, San Antonio players made a direct call to the league.
“I do think it’s very interesting that De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle have not been named an All-Star,” Keldon Johnson said. “So I’ll answer that question that wasn’t asked. But seven teams in this league have multiple All-Stars, and we’ve played pretty good against a lot of the top teams in this league.”
The NBA has been criticized for getting an All-Star selection in what some have called a lifetime achievement award rather than actually deserving the honor. Yet still, that hasn’t changed the league’s decision to keep Wembanyama as the Spurs’ lone All-Star.
“We’re No. 2 in the West,”Harrsion Barnes added about Fox and Castle. “Teams below us have two All-Stars. I don’t know a case where if you’re talking about having an impact on winning, either of them shouldn’t be selected and/or at least under consideration.”
The Frenchman himself has claimed multiple times that he is ready to play hard in Sunday night’s game, whether his fellow competitors are on board or not.
Wild Victor Wembanyama News Emerges After 40-Point Stat Line In Lakers Game