Victor Wembanyama, the 20-year-old 7-foot-4 phenom for the San Antonio Spurs, nonetheless has some progress to do earlier than he will be referred to as a legitimately elite participant, however he’s already elite on the defensive finish.
The second-year man led the NBA in blocked pictures per recreation final season, and on Wednesday in opposition to the Houston Rockets, he had a spectacular rejection that grew to become an prompt viral spotlight.
Rockets guard Jalen Inexperienced appeared to assault the basket, however Wembanyama made an unbelievable effort to smack his shot try away that left the France native on his again.
THIS WEMBY REJECTION 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/sJW9OZ4BXf
By means of his first seven video games of this season, Wembanyama is once more main everybody in blocks with 3.9 rejections per recreation, though his scoring common (18.9 factors a recreation) is down from final season.
The Spurs are at present 3-4, and maybe they received’t make the play-in event this spring, however they do appear poised to take a step ahead after going 22-60 final 12 months.
They added veteran future Corridor of Fame level guard Chris Paul this summer time, and he has been capturing nicely whereas averaging 8.9 assists a recreation coming into Wednesday.
Wembanyama has plenty of room for enchancment offensively, particularly in relation to his perimeter capturing and skill to play along with his again to the basket, however he reportedly added plenty of muscle throughout the offseason and now weighs 235 kilos.
That added weight and energy will solely assist him rating extra successfully inside, field out and do a fair higher job of rebounding.
As a rookie, he grabbed 10.6 rebounds a recreation, which ranked eighth within the NBA.