Fans see Spurs' Victor Wembanyama exceed expectations. What they don't see is his work off the court

Updated Jan. 27, 2025 5:55 a.m. ET

Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — For all the glowing things said in Paris the past few days about San Antonio phenom Victor Wembanyama, Hall of Famer Tony Parker probably summed matters up more succinctly than anyone.

Asked what the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama can become, Parker didn't hesitate.

“He can be whatever he wants,” said Parker, part of four of San Antonio's five championship teams. “He can be the best. He can be the best player in the NBA.”

Many can see why Parker believes that. It goes beyond the numbers. Parker gets to see what fans can't see, that being how much work Wembanyama puts in behind the scenes.

These are Wembanyama's stats so far this season: 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 3.7 assists per game. The last player to finish a season with those numbers was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a half-century ago.

Now throw in 3-point shooting, which didn't exist 50 years ago, and Wembanyama — who just turned 21 — is putting up stats this season like nobody else in the history of basketball. Unprecedented numbers.

But what should thrill San Antonio fans and be on the radar of fans in every other NBA city: Wembanyama is his own biggest critic and says he will get better.

“I’m not there yet,” Wembanyama said. “I’m still working on it.”

When he entered the league, the big question was about whether his slim frame would be overpowered by heavier NBA defenders. He knows still has to get stronger but based on what he was listed at originally and where he is now — 209 to 235 — that's a 26-pound bulk-up already.

And no, he's not getting overpowered. Quite the contrary.

Wembanyama likely to be named an All-Star

The sky evidently is not even the limit for Wembanyama, who came into the league as the most highly touted prospect since LeBron James and has exceeded probably even the loftiest expectations. He'll almost certainly be picked as an All-Star for the first time later this week. He's the Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner. He'll get MVP votes. All this, in just his second season.

And he is still learning.

“We see something, every day, new on the court that he’s building,” Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said. “I’ve watched him since he was 15 years old and what’s been fascinating is how important that it is to him to continue to grow as a player. And now we’re getting to see it every day.”

Wembanyama can make a steal at one end of the floor, then crossover dribble past a defender and let 3-pointers fly from the logo. His passes are pinpoint. He's the best shot-blocker in the league. He'll reverse-pivot, Eurostep, spin toward the baseline, spin away from the baseline, right-hand, left-hand, whatever it takes to get a shot off.

The Spurs signed Chris Paul — in his 20th NBA season — to be someone that Wembanyama could learn from. And that is indeed happening; Paul and Wembanyama say they talk constantly about matters both on- and off-the-court, the wise sage on one end, the young star on the other.

Thing is, Paul is learning from Wembanyama as well.

Conventional basketball wisdom says the 6-foot point guard would be quarterbacking the pick-and-roll with the towering center. Not anymore. Paul has found himself at times to be the one setting the pick and doing the rolling, something he can't really remember doing before now. Such is the advantage of having a 7-foot-4 teammate with guard skills.

“Vic is so unique,” Paul said. “I think everybody just expects him to dunk because he’s tall and that is not him by any means. He can dribble, he can pass, he can shoot. He does a little bit of everything. And that’s why it’s been so fun to play with Vic.”

Another example: Paul is one of the best thieves in NBA history, someone about to pass Jason Kidd for No. 2 on the league's all-time steals list. It's what Paul does. He goes for steals. Wembanyama has tried to get him to think differently.

“I just don’t know how to not go for steals,” Paul said. "To play with Vic now, guys will dribble into the lane and I’ll reach and get a foul and Vic will just tap me on the shoulder and remind me that he’s back there. His awareness on both ends of the court offensively and defensively is something that you just don’t see all the time.”

Playoffs within reach for Wembanyama, Spurs

After splitting their two games in Paris against Indiana, San Antonio is 20-23 on the season. The Spurs are on the outside looking into the Western Conference playoff picture, but the play-in tournament — and maybe even a top-six seed — are far from out of reach. They're in the mix.

It's a far cry from where they've been in recent years, and it all reminds Buford of how lucky the Spurs are to have Wembanyama.

“Even as a kid, he’s had the attention, the cameras, the microphones, the spotlight on him,” said Mitch Johnson, the acting Spurs coach while Gregg Popovich recovers from a November stroke. “He’s very clear about what he wants and where he wants this to go. He’s very grounded in that.”

Back in May 2019, a few weeks before that year's NBA draft, Buford was on a scouting trip in France and planning to see a prospect named Sekou Doumbouya. Someone then proposed a different idea. That was the start of Wembanyama's journey to San Antonio.

The story, as Buford tells it, goes like this: Claudio Crippa, an international scout for the Spurs, proposed going to see a youth game before checking out Doumbouya. Buford saw Wembanyama play for the first time that day. And the seeds for the Spurs' new master plan were immediately planted.

“We came to watch Victor, and that had a big influence on the way that our leadership and our front office developed a strategy to rebuild our program," Buford said. "The lottery luck (and) the hoop gods were very good to us. But the vision of a prospect like that was clearly impactful in the strategy of our rebuild.”

The strategy included trading DeMar DeRozan in 2021, Derrick White and Dejounte Murray in 2022, then Jakob Poeltl in 2023. Those were not trades that resulted in immediate team improvement. The Spurs suffered through four consecutive losing seasons before getting their biggest win in almost a decade — the May 2023 NBA draft lottery, when the ping-pong ball combination of 14, 5, 8 and 2 gave them the right to pick No. 1 overall.

They're not a playoff team yet and there is no timeline for Popovich's return. But in Wembanyama's second season, the Spurs have legitimate hope of getting to the postseason. And the vision that became so clear to Buford on that day in 2019 is a reality.

“He shows phenomenal maturity for a player that age, not to mention all his skills," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “I mean, he’s a four-level scorer. And defensively, if he’s not defensive player of the year this year I know I’ll be surprised. He’s averaging four blocks a game. So, what a player.”

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