Victor Wembanyama’s Debut
Wednesday marked the NBA debut for one of the NBA’s most hyped draft picks in history. The 7 foot 4 nineteen year-old Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama, made his first NBA appearance at home against Luka Doncic and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks. Ironically, another first round pick from the 2023 draft, Dereck Lively II, had an impressive showing in his first game for Dallas, while Wembanyama struggled to put it all together.
At the age of fourteen, Wembanyama emerged as one of Europe’s top prospects, and he subsequently started his professional career with the Nanterre 92 senior team in France a year later. Coming into Wednesday, Wembanyama had to play with expectations the NBA has not seen in a generation. Current top players in the league described Wembanyama as “an alien” due to his size and ability to move that ultimately gave him “cheat-code-vibes.” Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo even went as far as saying Wembanyama is “going to be one of the best to play this game.”
Months of anticipation led up to tip-off Wednesday night. A unique lineup by the San Antonio Spurs featured three big men﹘Jeremy Sochan, Zach Collins, and Victor Wembanyama seemed to limit Wembanyama’s ability to make an impact. The Spurs’ already young core became even younger the moment Wembanyama stepped onto the floor at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. Wembanyama performed better when he was a center as that is where he got more favorable matchups. To many, the game felt like a disappointment as it was not a blockbuster start like many had hoped for. Through the first three quarters, Wembanyama’s statline was anything but impressive as he went 2-of-4 in shooting resulting in 6 points. Wembanyama’s lack of experience was on display as he battled foul trouble early and played much of the 4th quarter with 5 fouls. Throughout the game, he found himself on the bench because of this foul trouble, making it even harder to get into a rhythm moving to and from the bench, coach Gregg Popovich added in his post-game remarks. However in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama was able to execute on plays Popovich had the team run for him.
Ending the game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in his 23 minutes on the court, Wembanyama has work to do to reach the potential he showed in brief flashes throughout the game. His poise and abilities were seen, but to live up to the hype, he has to be able to pull it all together consistently. Post-game, Wembanyama reflected on the game and his maturity was on display when he remarked that although being in foul troubles “might be frustrating”, he cannot let it get to him on the court for the good of his teammates.
With a much more talented and deeper Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs were not expected to have much success in this 2023-2024 season, despite their new addition of Victor Wembanyama. Last season, the Spurs finished 22-60 ﹘ their worst season since the 1996-97 season. Following the 1996-1997 season, the Spurs drafted Tim Duncan with the number 1 overall pick. Now following last season, the Spurs drafted Wembanyama with the number 1 overall pick. San Antonio hopes that Wembanyama will mirror the trajectory of Duncan and bring success to the franchise as he brought glory to the team in his treasured 19-year career, where he spent all of it in San Antonio. Spanning one of the most dominant stretches in NBA history, the five championships won with Duncan is something the franchise is looking to bring back to the city.
The Spurs, led by Wembanaya, had a promising pre-season. Now only one game into the season, not everything needs to be written off. Wembanyama and the rest of the Spurs team had flashesof potential. They were able to make it a close game with the Dallas Mavericks, a team with one of the best players in the entire league, Luka Doncic. This game was not a disappointment for San Antonio. Although it was not what was hoped for with Wembanyama, the team had a balanced contribution from all players on the court. Looking forward, San Antonio has games coming up against the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Phoenix Suns. The Rockets will be the next test and one they should be able to pull out the win in. Houston is coming off of a 30 point blowout loss against Orlando where they were not able to put anything together. This is a must win for San Antonio unless they want to start their season on a 4 game losing slump. The Clippers with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook is a group that is difficult to defeat for any team, especially a young squad like the Spurs. And right after that, going up against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns is yet another intimidating game. To perform well, Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs must play together, play consistently, and put all of the pieces together. This latter point is what they were missing against Dallas on Wednesday. One that cost them the game.