Victor Wembanyama.

Victor Wembanyama was the most hyped draft pick since Lebron James and has delivered on what was said about him. He is the third number 1 pick in San Antonio Spurs history, the last two being generational big men, Wembanyama seems to be delivering in a similar way. His impact on the defensive end is something that has rarely been seen before. There have only been a few players to average 4 blocks in a season and Wemby seems to be on his way to joining this elite crowd of players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Mark Eaton, Duncan Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo. To even be close to this in his second season is immense for Wembanyama and he arguably has already won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Despite a poor start to the season he has come alive in the past 10 games and is shaping his legacy as one of the greatest two-way players of all time.

At the start of the season, Wembanyama wasn’t the best version of himself. As always sports fans were quick to criticise him but he has come back with a vengeance. However, in his first 7 games he was only shooting 22% from 3 making 1.7 on 7.1 attempts on average. He was also only averaging 17 points and questions were rising about his impact on the offensive end, as he is always impactful on defence as his defensive intelligence and size make him integral.

Victor Wembanyama’s size always makes him impactful averaging 3.6 blocks in his rookie season which is the third highest from a rookie in NBA history; only sitting below Manute Bol and David Robinson. In his last 10 games this season he is averaging 3.9 blocks and has been dominating everywhere on the defensive end. He, like Tim Duncan his fellow Spurs number 1 pick, is an incredible help defender and is able to grab blocks whenever someone drives into the paint with his incredible 8 feet wingspan.

In the past 10 games, Wembamyama has been one of the best players in the league, averaging just under 27 points, 10 rebounds and just under 4 blocks. He has also been shooting the three ball incredibly; proving that his offensive game can carry his team to wins. Victor has skills that guards usually have and he’s the tallest player in the NBA. In the last 10 Wembanyama has, on average, attempted more threes than Steph Curry, made more than Luka Doncic  and is shooting a higher three point percentage than Lebron James. There is no doubt in my mind that Victor’s impact on the game will be generational and we can already see a new generation of big man forming in Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembamyama who are both 7ft+ and can  do almost everything on the court, building on the impact of players like Embiid and Nikola Jokic who are masters of the offensive side of the game. But, Wemby brings more than that to the game and it is easy to see that he can be a generational defender.

The Spurs are 10-8 and pick ups like Stephon Castle and Chris Paul have helped to guide a well built foundation into a winning team. Along with long time Spurs Devin Vassel and Keldon Johnson, Popovic seems to have built himself another championship contender. Now, although they aren’t going to win a championship this season they have the potential to do so in future. They will likely make the playoffs if Wemby keeps this superstar form up and they can stay healthy. It’s hard to think of reasons they can’t fight for a playoff position or fight out of the play-in.

If Wembanyama keeps playing how he is, there is no doubt he will be defensive player of the year as well as one of the best bucket getters at centre as well as the entire NBA. The future looks very exciting and if the last 10 games season is an indication of what Wemby can be then he is truly the generational talent that he was declared as.