It might actually be time to wonder if Victor Wembanyama was underhyped.
Let’s add a few facts together:
1. The San Antonio Spurs went 22-60 last season.
2. They added nothing of significance beyond the No. 1 overall pick.
3. The Suns were undefeated in the regular season with Kevin Durant last season.
4. The Suns got Devin Booker back on Thursday.
Put all of that in your head, then consider that Wembanyama dropped 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting against the Suns, on the road, in a 132-121 win to improve the Spurs’ record to 3-2. Their only losses were to the Dallas Mavericks in their opener and to the Los Angeles Clippers.
This isn’t normal. Even by the standards of some of the most-hyped rookies in NBA history, this isn’t normal.
Wembanyama not only filled up the box score against the Suns, he’s the one who slammed the door shut.
The Spurs led by double digits for much of the game, but the Suns stormed back in the fourth quarter and tied it at 116-116. The Spurs responded with a 12-0 run. Wembanyama scored 10 of those points. He didn’t do it with the freakish length that made him go viral again and again before reaching the NBA.
With the game on the line, Wembanyama was hitting pull-ups like his idol, Durant.
We are only five games into Wembanyama’s career, but he is now averaging 20.6 points on 50.2% shooting with 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. And he might only be getting better. That might not be enough to win NBA Rookie of the Year (the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Chet Holmgren is posting similar numbers), but it is certainly enough that Wembanyama has passed nearly every meaningful test in his young career so far.
The only player who posted a similar combination of points, rebounds and blocks through his first five career games: Shaquille O’Neal.
Also, don’t get us wrong. Wembanyama was still doing plenty with his freakish length.
Some more Victor Wembanyama highlights
Here’s a quick sampler, from a dunk through the lane in which he took off from near the free-throw line to a block that will live in Booker’s nightmares.
Again, none of this is normal. But that’s not going to stop us from tuning into Spurs games as much as we can for the foreseeable future.
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