Despite initial misgivings, Victor Wembanyama is slowly starting to prove why the San Antonio Spurs selected him first overall in the last draft. On the evening of February 24th, under the leadership of historical figures Gregg Popovich, lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 123-118 when visiting Crypto.com Arena. Although the result is negative, The French center has an impressive record, second only to Michael Jordan is considered the best in historyas the only player to do so.
Specifically, “Winby” and “Black Jesus” are the only two basketball players in NBA history to have at least 5 steals and 5 blocks in two consecutive games. In addition to doing it in front of people in Los Angeles, The Frenchman had done it the day before against the Sacramento Kings (a game they also lost 127-122), and “Mike” had done it in 1987. Despite setting an important record, the 2.24m rookie was critical of the different circumstances in which the two achieved these figures. “I wonder if Jordan did it in victory or defeat (for the GOAT it was victory and for the Frenchman it was defeat). For me it’s secondary. Hope I can look back on this in the future and think it was a good performance, but today I can’t be satisfied with failure.””, he declared after the game.
The 19-year-old is still far from his ceiling, and it showed during the game. record night He owns it in Los Angeles.Not only does he match what Mike does; After scoring 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks in just 31 minutes, and in his first back-to-back (two games in a row), he became the first player in history to complete the so-called 5×5. Youngest player, which basically means a player completes each statistic five or more times in a game.
Since counting steals and blocks began in the 1973-1974 season, Only 15 players have been able to accomplish this feat. The last game took place more than five years ago, on January 1, 2019, when Jusuf Nurkic faced the Sacramento Kings. Only Hakeem Olajuwon (6 times) and Andrei Kirilenko (3 times) have done it more than once, so if he does it again, Wembanyama will become the No. Three players who have achieved this stat multiple times.
But the most surprising thing about it all is that not only is he a first-year player in the NBA, but he’s averaging 20.7 points, 10.1 rebounds (leading), 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.3 blocks (leading) so far this season. ). ) exist Only 28.5 minutes. While he had some doubts left in summer league, so far this season it turns out those doubts were just a product of his nerves. What’s more, some have already nominated him as a direct candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, which somewhat contradicts the Spurs’ current situation, as they occupy the last place with an 11-47 record. in the Western Conference.
The Frenchman’s impact in the league was so great that the greatest players and leaders of different teams started praising his cardio and mental abilities. LeBron James He did just that after the meeting. “It has no roof. You can really do whatever you want in your career. He seemed to enjoy the game. It seems that he has put a lot of effort into this aspect. “I’ve told you how special it is, and it really is that simple.”
star Golden State Warriors, Stephen Currywho defines him as a gamer straight out of a video game. “He’s like a player created in 2K, a seven-foot point guard. “It’s great to see him play. “
He did it too Nikola Vucevicmainly highlighting its defensive aspects. “He’s going to be a scary defender and even if he doesn’t have his hands in the zone, he’s going to affect people’s shots. Like it affects everybody who comes in here and comes out of nowhere. No. 1 A layup, he didn’t know where it came from, but it was blocked. “You have to be very focused. “
his compatriots and Rudy Gobert named Defender of the Year three timesnot to be far behind. “If there’s anything I like about this boy, it’s that he loves basketball and he’s very mature and he knows when to trust and when not to trust,” he said.