How Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Has Become the Hero of San Antonio's Wishful 'Superpower'
SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama is really tall.
Like, really, really tall.
And in an age where modern-day centers are beginning to be relied upon differently than they were back in the day — which for the San Antonio Spurs, brings to mind greats like David Robinson, Tim Duncan and if you back far enough, Artis Gilmore — that's entirely a positive.
To fit the mold of the ideal big man in 2024, Wembanyama needed to be able to shoot from deep. He's proven he can do that, despite some consistency issues. He also needed to be able to play any position — ever seen a 7-4 rookie dribble the ball from the baseline into a pull-up 3-pointer?
Well, the Spurs have.
On defense, Wembanyama had to be a rim protector. And at the halfway mark of the season, he leads the league in total blocked shots and blocks per game with a figure never-been-seen in the 21st century.
He also had to be mobile, so he made sure to score a behind-the-back poster dunk over Brook Lopez — another 7-foot center — and slam home a self-pass off the backboard over any and all defensive traffic.
As it normally goes, there were doubts surrounding the rookie entering his first year.
He's too skinny. He can't shoot. He'll get bullied by the other centers in the league.
Wembanyama turned a blind-eye too all of them. Cameras, microphones and everything in-between, though he does make sure to give the best answers he can during postgame press conferences — that was just a part of the job.
"My teammates know I don't care about [the media attention]," Wembanyama explained during the team's pre-season Media Day. "I'm here to make sacrifices for them, and I they're going to make sacrifices for me."
Oct 2, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) poses for photos with forwards guard Devin Vassell (24) and Jeremy Sochan (10) during media day in San Antonio.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
So far this season, that's rung true. When the rookie needed more time to say goodbye to his Mother after the Spurs' loss at Madison Square Garden, his teammates waited for him to ensure he wouldn't face the penalty of being the last one on the bus.
When the narrative formed that San Antonio's secondary stars were purposefully not passing the ball to Wembanyama, he defended them fervently.
They're a team, after all. They're family. And Wembanyama knew it would be before the Spurs even won the Draft Lottery to secure the right to draft him.
"Not to brag about it, but I knew what was going to happen," Wembanyama told reporters immediately after the announcement was made. "I actually recorded myself saying it this morning walking to practice. The universe told me.
"Dreams, feelings, it happens sometimes, but it's never wrong. It's always right."
Everything but the Spurs' record agrees with that sentiment: the "healthy" locker room Wembanyama likes to refer to, Popovich's highest-order praise for the now-20-year-old and even the city's constant love for him — even signing him happy birthday before he faced off against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Perhaps Spurs owner, Peter J. Holt, foresaw this kind of exuberance when he found out his father's team would be bringing home yet another No. 1 center.
His reaction inside of Barclays Center certainly said so.
"I might faint," Holt said immediately after receiving his team's card. "I'm so excited. The city of San Antonio, our fans, we just have so many people that love the Spurs."
Jun 22, 2023; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Victor Wembanyama poses for photos with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected first by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Arena.
© Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Holt's excitement matched that of the rest of San Antonio, which was expressed via a slew of downtown honks. And even 34 losses in 42 tries later, it's still at an All-time high. Holt, too, is still sold on the product he's seeing in San Antonio.
And it makes sense why.
"We don't believe there is a deadline for success," Holt told French media while in France last week. "Some people try to take shortcuts to the top, to short-circuit the process, [and] it usually backfires. Having a generational talent like Victor, with other quality players, while having extended Pop for five years ... is the right thing to do."
"At the statistical, collective, and individual level, we are already seeing an evolution," he added. "Particularly with Victor. We want to build a superpower, ultra-competitive that lasts for a long time."
A superpower.
Strong words from an owner, but also great faith, which has told the story of the Spurs' disastrous season so far. Whether that eyes-closed faith has come from Wembanyama to Popovich, Popovich to the rest of the team or the team to Wembanyama, it's there. And it isn't leaving anytime soon. The reason why?
It's simple. San Antonio wants to build a superpower, and Wembanyama is the star.
But he's also more than that. He's the heart and soul of San Antonio's young team, both on and off the basketball court. He's everything to the franchise.
In fact, it's a safe bet to say he's a 7-4, 20-year-old hero.
A superhero.
Jan 22, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts after being called for a foul against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center.
© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Absence of A Hero
If Wembanyama is a superhero, then the Spurs were missing a mighty-big piece of their team against the Charlotte Hornets.
Prior to the season, the rookie set a lofty goal for himself. At all costs, he wasn't going to miss even one contest. He was going to play, and he was going to be better than any rookie ever had been at it. That's just who he is.
Needless to say, that goal was hardly attainable. Sure, he'd be able to minimize his absences and play games when he was needed, but he was bound to miss some.
And when he did, he understood.
"He’s receptive to any type of coaching,” Popovich said of Wembanyama's coachability.” [He has] a really high IQ. He understands the game intuitively. You explain something to him and he understands it. He’s a remarkable 20-year-old.”
Last year, only 10 players hit the perfect-game mark, though none of them had to deal with being a rookie or being 7-foot tall as their team's main option. Let alone both.
Wembanyama was both. He is both, and it's made his situation not just more unique to anyone who's come before him, but also more impressive. And that was his goal.
Ever since he began his NBA journey.
"I've always had this ambition, ever since I knew what the draft looked like," Wembanyama said. "If I had a chance to talk to my younger self, I wouldn't say anything. I wouldn't change anything about the path here."
Jan 20, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks the ball over Washington Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III (35) prior to being called for an offensive foul in the second half at Capital One Arena.
© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Wembanyama — fresh off of proving himself right in his professional destination — has followed the path he needed to in order to become the Spurs' frontman. He's delivered on both sides of the ball with a poise never-before seen since Duncan did it before him. He's been everything San Antonio hoped for.
Perhaps that's why it missed him so dearly against Charlotte.
Perhaps that's why it lost.
Four games prior to taking center court against the Hornets at Spectrum Center Jan. 19, Zach Collins was on the bench in street clothes.
He'd been forced to take a backseat on the young team since losing the second match of a two-game series against the Portland Trail Blazers on the road. There, he suffered an ankle sprain that not only forced the Spurs to be without him, but also without Wembanyama in full capacity.
The 20-year-old rookie has played, but on a restricted number of minutes. Without him in what's likely to be his usual rotation and with no Collins, guys like Dominick Barlow were thrust into a pool requiring freestyle skill with only treading experience.
Luckily, they didn't have to deal without Wembanyama and Collins for the entirety of the game. In fact, Charlotte was Collins' first game back.
Yet, the Spurs still lost in an entirely winnable game.
Spurs forward Zach Collins (23) during the second half against the Hornets at Spectrum Center.
© Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
Even against one of the other teams struggling to make ends meet this season, they couldn't quite get it done, leaving both the players and Gregg Popovich searching for answers.
"We've just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot," Collins explained after the los. "I think we've moved past the point of giving in when teams go on runs. I think we've learned how to be professional and understand that it happens and it's okay to go through that.
"But you've got to push back."
It might have been that simple. Losing a 34th game on the season easily could have been avoided against Charlotte had it not been for a lack of response and effort.
Or, according to Popovich, sloppy ball security.
"We gave up 24 points off of turnovers," the veteran coach said bluntly to reporters. "That was really the difference overall. That was the game."
Turnovers haven't been the Spurs' strong suit. Without a veteran point guard — and for the better part of the season, a "true" point guard running the show at all — it's easy to see why, but even when Wembanyama was playing, there was a learning curve that came with receiving almost the entirety of every team's defensive attention.
But with every curve comes a stabilization. That's where Wembanyama feels he is.
Again, perhaps that's why San Antonio missed him so badly.
"I don’t even have to look at numbers to know it and to notice it," Wembanyama said of feeling more comfortable within the Spurs' offense. "I feel it. Since it’s happened, I feel like it’s opened up way more stuff for my teammates. So, it’s good.”
Fiding a comfort level on offense does open up the floor for his teammates. It allows Devin Vassell to shoot freely and score at will — part of Wembanyama's intended plan with spacing the floor, as the rookie sees his co-star having equal importance in the young team's future — Jeremy Sochan to play his natural position and Tre Jones to facilitate.
Even Doug McDermott has done exactly what the Spurs hoped he would. He's among the best 3-point shooters in the NBA and can be counted on for instant offense. He did that against the Hornets the first time — also on the same night Wembanyama put on a second-half show to lock down a home blowout victory the first of its kind.
Wembanyama is the star of the show, but he doesn't do it alone.
Ever the team player, he can't imagine a world where he could.
“Of course, I’ve heard it," Wembanyama explained when asked if he'd heard the widespread narrative of his teammates intentionally not passing him the ball. "But it’s never been even close to the reality."
Jan 2, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) reacts with center Victor Wembanyama (1) during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
"I was just on TV, and I was told that some of my former coaches said ... sometimes my teammates had trouble adapting to playing with me," the rookie added. "I’m not a conventional player. I needed time to figure out ... how I need to play for [the Spurs], and I guess everyone needed time to figure out how to play with me.
"It’s nothing to worry about. I’m a new piece on this team. There’s nobody on this team that doesn’t want to pass me the ball and there’s nobody I don’t want to pass the ball to."
Wembanyama has quickly become the glue for the youngest squad in the NBA. The weight and pressure he's experienced thus far isn't like anything he's seen before. But as perfect as he'd like to be, he can't be. He can't play every game. Every minute.
Sometimes, he's forced to watch from the sidelines.
As the Spurs struggled to come back from the hole they dug themselves in against the Hornets, he did just that. He watched as the fourth quarter expired and the Spurs tacked on another loss to the abysmal record. He walked back to the locker room, got the same post-game talking-to from Popovich and boarded the same team plane.
That night, the Spurs needed saving, and Wembanyama couldn't deliver.
And that just made him even more eager to get back to work on the floor.
A Heroic Return
“I can’t wait ... fifty minutes now?”
Washington Wizards shooting guard Bilal Coulibaly eagerly awaited a matchup he'd long been expecting. It wasn't anything special on paper for the NBA world — a matchup between two of the worst teams in the league ensured that.
But for the Wizards rookie, and the Spurs rookie he was waiting for, it was everything
Coulibaly continuously glanced at a clock in Washington’s locker room. He looked as the numbers changed, ever-so slowly. The game was getting closer, but he couldn't wait. Not any longer, at least.
The truth was, he'd been waiting his entire life for this moment.
“I’m excited," Coulibaly reiterated. "I can't not think about it. Everyone’s been talking to me about it. We’ve been talking about it like: ‘That was our dream. Now we’re here.’”
Indeed they were there. Coulibaly. Wembanyama. Facing off for the first time in the NBA on a stage located in the United States Capital — thousands of miles from where they once played together in France. They were ready for the big stage.
And both delivered.
Jan 20, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (L) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (R) swap jerseys after their game at Capital One Arena.
© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Wembanyama and Coulibaly have roots traced back to Metropolitans 92, which was just one series short of a league title, but even before then, their love for basketball ran deep. And even though the Spurs pulled out the victory over the struggling East team, that was evident.
Coulibaly finished with 14 points and a handful of rebounds off the bench while Wembanyama put together another 20-point, 5-block performance in his first game back from missing the night prior due to ankle recovery concerns. His presence was felt — as it usually was — though arguably by none more than his former teammate.
And he wasn't shy of that fact.
“He’s been doing his thing," Coulibaly said of Wembanyama following Washington's defeat. "He’s really humble, smart, so he knows how to manage all of that, and he’s got good people around him.
"It's easy for him."
Winning has always been easy for Victor Wembanyama. It's all he's ever known, and standing just a few inches under six feet at only nine-years-old, it's easy to see why.
When San Antonio went on its historic losing streak of 18 games, it was the longest string of wins the rookie had experienced since being a grade-school goalkeeper. He claims those losses weren't his fault, but now — even more than then — they really aren't.
In fact, it's hard for the Spurs to win without him.
Yet they did. They beat the Wizards on the night he returned.
"[It was] a good win on the road," Popovich explained following the contest. "It was a long trip ... back-to-back on the road. ... I've got to be really by happy for them. It is a 48-minute game, and [they] kept playing. Really pleased for them."
Jan 19, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich during the second half against the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center.
© Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
Wembanyama added another reason to the mile-long list of why his presence matters to San Antonio on the court against the Wizards. He performed and did exactly what he set out to do, yet still soaked in the moment.
And for him, that meant enjoying facing off against Coulibaly.
"I'm so proud of him," Wembanyama said. "[I have] been for so long now, and it always makes me feel good to see people I love make their dreams come true, and it's just happening for him, and it's going to happen for more young French basketball prospects, and I'm very grateful."
In the games that followed, Wembanyama met with plenty more familiar faces. They weren't his long-time teammates, but they were familiar: Joel Embiid, Chet Holmgren, Scoot Henderson — to name a few.
The list went on, as it will when Wembanyama and the Spurs meet with teams they've already played before, and with every game, Wembanyama learned.
Against the reining MVP, that meant watching true big-man domination.
“It would have been more fun in a win, of course,” Wembanyama said following his losing bout with Joel Embiid. “But it’s inspiring. Inspiring, especially offensively. A few years back, it was more of a guard's game, but now, it's come back to a big man's game."
Hosting Oklahoma City, that meant watching a team function cohesively at a level strong enough to top the Western Conference and against Henderson, that meant watching a confident scorer do his thing shamelessly.
With every game, Wembanyama "got an education" — as Popovich put it — and continued to adapt. To improve. To thrive. On both ends of the floor.
"I envision playing as a decisive player," Wembanyama said of his ever-changing skillset. "With a variety of skills. If I happen to get the ball and defense is looking at me, I'll share [it]. It sounds simple, but it's hard on the court.
"It's about adapting."
Jan 22, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts with guard Devin Vassell (24) after scoring during the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
As much importance as the Spurs rookie places on adapting and learning, his team — looking to build a superpower — puts on his health. That meant hard decisions to keep Wembanyama sidelined in games he was likely more-than-okay to play in.
It meant extensive questions from reporters about when Wembanyama would be back to full health. It also meant effectively explaining to a freshly-minted 20-year-old why he had to sit out and likely sacrifice a win for a minor lower-extremity discomfort.
But Popovich duly noted that the latter wasn't a difficult task.
"He’s receptive to any type of coaching,” the veteran coach said. "[He has] a really high IQ. He understands the game intuitively. You explain something to him and he understands it. He’s a remarkable 20-year-old."
Victor Wembanyama stepped off of the tarmac in San Antonio with a smile on his face, and before he realized it, breakfast tacos in his hands.
He was set to become the biggest thing to grace the Spurs — in a literal sense — ever, and as far as promise went, since Tim Duncan. He was supposed to lead the struggling team to 50 wins in order to follow in the footsteps of the two bigs that came before him, and deliver multiple championships by time he hung up his Silver & Black threads.
He was supposed to be everything for San Antonio. And so far, he has been.
That's why sitting out one game of a back-to-back as a precautionary measure seemed to wane in comparison to the Spurs' larger task at hand. But still, getting to play more minutes on a looser restriction felt nice.
"I feel pretty well," Wembanyama said when asked about his conditioning under a looser restriction. "As good as we can ask for. The season is very exhausting, a lot of games. But I feel very lucky and very thankful that my body feels the way it feels.
"I couldn't ask for anything better. ... Hopefully, I can play every game from now on, so it shouldn't be an issue no more."
Jan 29, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) looks down the court in the second half against the Washington Wizards at Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
With Wembanyama healthy, the Spurs have looked stronger. They've looked more cohesive, better-prepared and competitive — even notching their "best' win of the season late against the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves.
That started with the rookie himself.
“He’s really settled into the game,” Vassell said of his teammate. “He doesn't take any ... bad shots. Every shot is something I've seen him work on, and I'm confident in all the shots he's getting to."
Wembanyama got more specific, citing his defensive presence as his strongest suit.
"Am I surprised?" Wembanyama asked of his league-leading block totals and ability to defend the rim, rhetorically. "No. Especially as a rookie with a coach like ours, [success] starts on defense.
"Growing up in Europe, to gain your spot on a professional roster at 15 or 16, you've got to play your ass off on defense, so [I'm] going back to that role as a new guy in the league, and it feels good."
Wembanyama has earned his spot on the Spurs. He was destined to do so, especially with the level of attention he received upon entering the NBA. He was, and continues to be, an alien. A difference-maker.
But despite the gold-mine that San Antonio struck on Draft Lottery night, there isn't a reason to rush. Not according to the rookie, his teammates, Peter J. Holt or even the league's winningest coach of All-time.
"We were in that position (of playing playoff basketball) for three decades and now, we're starting over," Popovich said. "So, we'll have to have the same patience and make good decisions in the draft and that kind of thing. We don't want to skip steps.
"We want to just do it the right way and have the people here that we want."
Jan 29, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) smiles at San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the second half against the Washington Wizards at Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
It's easy to see that Wembanyama fits that category. He'd be the one that a team "wants" in any situation across the NBA, but the difference with his time in San Antonio is that he has a chance to etch his name into history with one of the most storied franchises in basketball history. He has the opportunity to become the next great Spur.
Like Duncan. Robinson. George Gervin.
The Spurs aren't the "superpower" they hope to be just yet, but they're getting there — slowly, but surely. Besides, every storybook needs its hero. Every city needs its center.
Every team needs its star.
For the NBA, San Antonio and the Spurs, Wembanyama fits the bill. He's all three. He's a 7-4, 20-year-old superhero. And he's not nearly ready to quit.
Not until he's got a ring on his hand and a jersey in the rafters.
