Victor Wembanyama’s offseason transformation is ‘scary’ for the rest of the NBA
Credit to Author: Michael C. Wright| Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2024 16:46:39 EST
Shams Charania joins Pat McAfee and voices his optimism for Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs this season. (1:22)
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA CRACKED an uneasy smile as conflicting emotions took hold.
It was Aug. 10 inside Bercy Arena, on the outskirts of Paris, where 28 minutes earlier the 20-year-old Frenchman and the host nation had nearly upset the star-studded Team USA. Wembanyama had galvanized Team France to rally from an 11-point deficit to pull within 3, but it failed to stop Steph Curry & Co. from seizing a fifth straight gold.
Standing in the middle of the court, his 7-foot-4 frame towering over teammates, Wembanyama posed with the silver medal, genuinely smiling, with disappointment burning inside.
What few knew at the time is that as soon as the San Antonio Spurs‘ 2023-24 campaign wrapped in April, Wembanyama hit the team’s $500 million Victory Capital Performance Center with a vengeance, hungry to build the strength he lacked as a rookie.
He worked out for two months in San Antonio before leaving for the Olympics.
Wembanyama loved how those sessions manifested themselves over the summer on the international stage. How he could effortlessly unleash aggression and physicality on opponents in a way he wasn’t quite able to as a rookie, and doing so while maintaining his elite athleticism and body control, with an improved ability to play through contact.
“Those two months of hard work were enough to make me pass another step,” he said.
The next step would come upon returning to San Antonio.
“After the Olympics, I spent four or five weeks working here,” Wembanyama said. “It’s enough to make me pass another step. This is how I want to go. I want to keep progressing every year, every summer. It has helped me already through the Olympics, and I’m sure it’s going to help me during the season too.”
Teammate Devin Vassell called it all a “scary” proposition at media day for opponents, adding “you just don’t expect at his height what he’s doing. It’s almost normal now.”
The Spurs’ front office took steps in the offseason to ensure that, adding surefire Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul and veteran forward Harrison Barnes.
They join what was the NBA’s youngest roster last season, including Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan, as well as rookie lottery pick Stephon Castle.
Then, of course, there’s the 20-year-old Wembanyama, the reigning Rookie of the Year and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game last season, becoming just the second rookie since Manute Bol in 1985-86 to lead the league in blocks.
Those numbers only include his 71 NBA games from last season. Wembanyama tallied those before toiling for months this summer refining his body, packing 25 pounds of muscle onto his physique. Before privately working on ballhandling, reads and shot creation with three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford. Before teaming up with an all-world point guard.
Welcome to Year 2 of the Victor Wembanyama era.
“I think there is still that unsureness of what he really can do, what he will do,” fourth-year guard Tre Jones said. “I think there will be nights where he still pulls off things that we have never seen before, and that’s just how it’s going to be for however many years.”
Back in Paris, Wembanyama’s silver medal dangled from his neck as he walked off the floor sporting a Team France Le Coq Sportif sweatsuit. Eyes still moist with tears, he couldn’t help but think about what is to come.
“I’m learning,” he told the San Antonio Express-News, “and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years.”
FIBA counterparts or NBA foes?
Wembanyama paused.
“Everybody.”
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