The San Antonio Spurs struck gold last year when they secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. This resulted in Gregg Popovich and company bringing in international superstar Victor Wembanyama, who many believe could be the best all-around player in the NBA in the foreseeable future.
With the Spurs struggling to rebound in the post-Tim Duncan era, San Antonio desperately needed to find a new star to build around. They really couldn’t have done better than drafting Wembanyama, who didn’t disappoint in his rookie season.
Even though the Spurs were awful last season, finishing with one of the worst records in the league at 22-60, Wembanyama wasn’t able to turn the team around immediately, as we’ve seen with other young players who came into the league at a young age, like LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003.
However, Wembanyama did show a skill set that the league had never seen before. The versatile rookie was able to do virtually anything on the basketball court. He was a dominant force on both ends of the floor, which is a promising sign for his immediate future and the Spurs’ prospects for being a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
Despite putting on a show in his first season in the league and being in the running for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal thinks the big man in San Antonio won’t be dominant offensively because he shoots jumpers, via The Pat McAfee Show.
“Wemby is a great player,” O’Neal said. “But I don’t really think you can be dominant when you shoot jumpers a lot. I think if he was an inside player at 7-foot-5, the answer would be yes. But when you shoot jumpers, you’re always going to go up and down. But, he’s a fine player. I wish him well. I’m just glad after not being in the league so long to still have my name in that category.”
O’Neal was asked in the context of if Wembanyama can surpass him as the most dominant player ever.
If Wembanyama falls in love with shooting threes and can’t improve his shooting percentage from deep, then O’Neal might have a point here. This does seem to be a bit shortsighted from the four-time NBA champion because the league has changed so much since he was dominating the competition in the paint, but Wembanyama didn’t have a great shooting performance during his first season with the Spurs.
In 71 games, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, shooting 46.5% from the floor and 32.5% from beyond the arc.
Those shooting numbers need to improve for a seven-footer, 7’4″ to be exact, and as talented and versatile as he is with the ability to stretch the floor, which can happen as he’s got a lot of time to get better in all areas of his game.
D’Angelo Russell: Victor Wembanyama should’ve won Defensive Player of the Year
During his rookie season with the Spurs, Victor Wembanyama showed everyone how incredibly talented he is and that the future might be bright for the storied NBA franchise with the young seven-footer leading the way.
Along with showing he can be a dominant force offensively, Wembanyama was even more impressive on defense and was a finalist for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, but fell short to Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.
Reflecting on Wembanyama’s first season in the league, Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell thinks the Spurs rising star should’ve won the regular-season award.
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