“Patience” is emphasized by Victor Wembanyama as the Spurs advance into contention.
San Antonio’s star big man was insightful when talking about building a contender.
The San Antonio Spurs just completed their first season with French sensation Victor Wembanyama at center, and – while the team’s record wasn’t all that impressive – a bright future is clearly on the horizon.
Wembanyama spoke about the Spurs working toward building a contender, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN:
“This is how it’s been my whole life, having to be patient,” Wembanyama told ESPN. “Be patient, but not always, you know. Nothing is going to stop us from pursuing it as hard as we can even though we can’t do it today. One day it’s going to pay off, all of these efforts.”
Wembanyama is a perfect centerpiece for the Spurs to build around. The offensive skillset is already blossoming – with ample room to improve – and he’s arguably already the most impactful defender in the league.
In earning 2023-2024 NBA All-Defensive First Team honors, the Spurs’ generational talent became the youngest player to make First Team All-Defense.
Wemby, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, averaged a league-leading 3.58 blocks and 1.24 steals to go along with 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in 29.7 minutes. He led the NBA in blocks with 254 for the season, recording a league-best 10.01 block percentage—the highest of any player since Manute Bol’s mark with the Washington Bullets in 1985-86.
He’s the first rookie to lead the NBA in blocked shots since Bol and the first rookie to average three or more blocks since Dallas Mavericks center Shawn Bradley in 1993-94.
The top pick in last summer’s NBA Draft finished in the top-10 in total deflections (205), defensive rebounds per game (8.4), total defensive rebounds (594) and defensive rebound percentage (27.3%). Wembanyama is the first player to average at least 10 rebounds, three blocks and one steal since Marcus Camby did it as a member of the Denver Nuggets in 2007.
