Victor Wembanyama lived up to all the hype as an NBA rookie. In year 2, the Spurs star wants more

Here are some of the accolades Victor Wembanyama has received over the past 12 months: the NBA Rookie of the Year award, a spot on the All-Rookie team, a first-team All-Defense selection, three rookie of the month awards and most recently an Olympic silver medal.

They are all nice. They are not enough either.

Wembanyama wants more, a lot more, and as the French San Antonio Spurs star prepares to enter the second year of his NBA career – having lived up to virtually all of the lofty expectations of year one – he isn’t hesitant to say that he sees bigger. .

“It’s the same for all my trophies, team trophies or even individual trophies,” Wembanyama said. “I love them. I really cherish them. But I want all the trophies I receive at the moment to be building blocks to build something great in the future. You know, a brick by itself isn’t much. You can get a palace when you accumulate them.

So let’s let the construction process continue.

If San Antonio wants to get back into the playoff picture this season, Wembanyama will have to be a big reason why. Still officially listed at 7-foot-3 by the Spurs — he looks at least a few inches taller, even though he says he hasn’t grown — Wembanyama knows all eyes are on him this season, even if ‘there’s probably no one there. in the NBA who can look him in the eye. He was unanimously voted Rookie of the Year and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, a league-high 3 .6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game last season.

He will probably be an All-Star this season. He is already being talked about as an MVP candidate. He is the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. Only a handful of players have garnered this much respect in their second NBA year, and Wembanyama has deserved everything people say about him.

“It’s a matter of time,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You know, he’s an incredible talent. He is also very dedicated. I think we saw this summer at the Olympics, particularly in France where there were high expectations for this team. And the greatest moments are when he played his best, including our last game. I think it was his best match. But in the last two or three games, you could see the trend going in that direction when they really needed him to step up. It was impressive.

The Paris Olympics – where Wembanyama had an entire host nation’s basketball gold medal hopes on his shoulders – was another stop where he did not disappoint. He averaged 15.8 points and 9.7 rebounds, was chosen as a rising star of the tournament by FIBA, and made the All-Star Five (FIBA’s version of an all-star team). tournaments) alongside MVP LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Dennis Schroder.

Wembanyama saved his best for last in Paris, scoring 26 points in the gold medal game against the United States, enough to keep France close but not enough to overcome the flurry of 3-point baskets that Curry scored in the final minutes to seal a fifth straight game. Olympic title for the Americans.

It was yet another reminder that Wembanyama is not on his way to stardom. He’s already here, and the Olympics could be a stepping stone to the next level of stardom.

“Victor was great,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who watched Wembanyama in Paris. “He improved steadily throughout the Olympics and ended up being very formidable. But for all the players who played in FIBA ​​for all these years and left this summer, it’s always a plus.

Wembanyama finds inspiration throughout the game. He is full of praise for fellow Rookie of the Year, Indiana Fever WNBA star Caitlin Clark. (“When she was in college…the only college player that impressed me. I’m talking about men’s and women’s basketball. She’s probably the most impressive,” Wembanyama said.) And he’s eager to learn from two highly decorated players. the veterans the Spurs signed this summer, Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes.

“He works extremely hard,” Paul said of Wembanyama. “His ability to shoot, pass, dribble, do everything, his defense… it took some getting used to. We are a work in progress.

As a leader, Paul’s job is to make life easier for Wembanyama on the field. That doesn’t mean he’ll be quiet with Wembanyama off the field. Spurs held a table tennis tournament during the pre-season and Paul beat Wembanyama in the semi-final.

This did not sit well with Wembanyama. And what he said after that bragging event might shed some light on his true state of mind heading into his second NBA season. In short, when he takes on a challenge a second time, he wants to do better than the first time.

“Today he is the best. This is not going to last,” Wembanyama said after the table tennis showdown. “I don’t have much experience in ping pong, but I’ve improved a lot lately. So it won’t last. »

He also doesn’t have much NBA experience. But he has improved. The league knows what’s coming. He was almost out of control last year and he will be better now.

“A successful year would be one where we don’t waste time making the mistakes we made last year and implement our improvements immediately,” Wembanyama said. “I think it’s going well because when I look at everyone – and I looked at everyone over the summer – everyone was working really hard. And it looks like it’s going to pay off.

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