NBA Champion, All-Star Picks Rockets' Kevin Durant over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama

San Antonio Spurs superstar big man Victor Wembanyama has been turning in quite a showing during his debut postseason campaign. The Frenchman is averaging 22.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.8 blocks, 53.8 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from deep and 85.5 percent from the foul line.

And that's a drop-off from his regular season campaign, in which he averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.1 blocks, 51.2 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from deep and 82.7 percent from the foul line.

Wembanyama has raised his level of play during the Spurs' Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaging a series-best 29.3 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. And if that wasn't impressive enough, he is out shooting Thunder two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to the tune of 42.9 percent from deep, while Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting just 28.6 percent from deep on the same number of attempts.

And he's getting to the foul line just as often as Gilgeous-Alexander, in part because of how physical the Thunder have been playing him. It's clear that Wembanyama will be the face of the NBA at some point in the not-too-distant future.

In fact, depending on who you ask, he may be the top player in the NBA right now. There's certainly a case to be made, especially after watching these playoffs. He's put in time and work with Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon and it's surely paid off.

However, former NBA champion and All-Star point guard Jeff Teague wants the masses to pump the brakes on the hype, stating that the two-time All-Star and 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year hasn't surpassed Houston Rockets superstar forward Kevin Durant, taking to Teague's popular Club 520 podcast to share his sentiments.

"I’m gonna keep it real: We love Wemby because we ain’t never seen anything like him, but he’s not f**king with KD,” Teague said. “It’s not even possible. Defensively, he’s gonna be the greatest defender we’ve ever seen … so let’s just stop there.”

Teague continued.

"Wemby looked up to KD, bro."

He also suggested to compare both players at the same point in their respective careers. Which is an interesting exercise, as Durant averaged a league-leading 30.1 points on 47.6 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from deep, 90 percent from the foul line (while leading the league in free throw attempts) and 60.7 percent true shooting, while the Thunder won 50 games and were a first-round postseason exit, losing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Durant also led the league in minutes played, averaging 39.5 minutes per contest.

This is an exercise that essentially comes down to offensive brilliance versus defensive brilliance, although there's a significant difference in minutes played between both players in their third seasons, as Wembanyama averaged just 29.2 minutes this season while Durant played the league's most minutes that year.

Although unrelated, it's worth noting that Durant hasn't had a drop-off from his third season and this season, although the seasons are 16 years apart. In Durant's first season with the Rockets, he averaged 26 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 52 percent from the field, 41.3 percent from deep, 87.4 percent from the foul line and 64.1 percent true shooting.

He also finished second in minutes played and carried the Rockets to a 52-30 record, in spite of a multitude of injuries across the roster.

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