The start of this NBA season couldn’t have been better for the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembaneyama.
The San Antonio Spurs have gone from being the favorites to one of the favorites, and Victor Wembaneyama has become the leading candidate for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year through five games.
Wembaneyama appears to have taken a big step toward becoming the NBA’s best player after working with Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett this offseason. He may already be there.
He’s not playable on either end. That makes the Spurs a daunting prospect for any team looking to win the Western Conference.
The Spurs have been one of the most successful franchises of the past quarter-century, but Wembaneyama’s Spurs are coming close to accomplishing something they’ve never done before to start this season. And it shocked even the French.
The Spurs lead the NBA with a 4-0 record. This is on par with the best start to a season in San Antonio history.
Wembaneyama was stunned when asked about this after the Spurs defeated the Toronto Raptors 121-103.
He said, “The Spurs have never been 5-0? No! I’m surprised. I’m really surprised, because the Spurs have the best winning percentage in the last 30 years or something.”
And a determined Wembaneyama set his sights on the Miami Heat, adding, “Let’s break that record.”
With a winning percentage of 62.6% since 1996, the Spurs have the best record in the NBA over the past 30 years. They won five NBA championships, led by Tim Duncan and a legendary supporting cast. However, they haven’t had the chance to do so this season.
He’s had an incredible start to the season, and Wembaneyama has already embarrassed Anthony Davis among other NBA stars and shown that he’s now one of the best players on the planet. And after just one game, he will already have his name etched into Spurs’ legend.
Wenbanyama’s 40 points and 15 rebounds on opening night attracted the attention of the basketball world. It quickly became clear that the efforts he put in over the summer had turned him into an unstoppable force.
That raised serious questions about who could stop him. Davis is one of the most feared interior defenders in NBA history, and he looked lost against Wenbanyama. So far, no one has slowed him down.
He scored 20 points and had double-digit rebounds in every game. Wembaneyama has already blocked 24 shots this season, making him a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, just as he did last season before being sidelined with deep vein thrombosis.
| status | Victor Wembaneyama through 4 games |
| point | 33.3 |
| rebound | 13.3 |
| assist | 2.3 |
| block | 6 |
| steal | 1.7 |
What’s even more impressive is that Wembaneyama has been doing all of this for about 30 minutes every night as the Spurs have managed his workload earlier this year. Against the Raptors, he went 7-8 on field goals in 31 minutes, recording 24 points and 15 rebounds.
If he continues this way, we might have to ask some serious questions about not only his place in the NBA, but his place in NBA history at the end of this season.