Victor Wembanyama vows to keep focus on winning as ROY race heats up
tay up to date on No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama during his rookie campaign with the San Antonio Spurs. A new Wemby Watch drops every Sunday during the season. Here’s what we saw this week:
ROY debate 🤔
Victor Wembanyama declined to declare the race over for Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, even after becoming the first player in NBA history to post 25-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, five-plus assists, five-plus blocks and five made 3-pointers in a game. He did that on Thursday in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I don’t even ask myself whether this race is over or not because I want to win the games, and there are still 22 to go. So I have to keep performing,” Wembanyama said.
Wembanyana generated a 2K-level stat line (28 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks, 2 steals) in the third head-to-head matchup with fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Chet Holmgren.
1-man highlight reel 🤯
From mind-boggling circus shots to logo treys, Wembanyama continues to leave fans scratching their heads with his unbelievable ability to score from just about anywhere on the court.
Check out some of the Spurs rookie's best plays against the Jazz, Timberwolves & Thunder in latest weekly recap.
Bonus: While this didn’t go exactly as he planned, the self-lob attempt vs. the Timberwolves is certainly worth noting this week.
Work in progress ⏳
If you didn’t notice, the Spurs’ rookie played the entire fourth quarter Thursday and found himself digging deep late in that game to conjure the magic we ultimately saw on display down the stretch.
He’s played 34 and 32 minutes, respectively, in his last two contests heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers (7 ET, NBA League Pass)
“With my minutes increasing, I think I need a little bit of time to adapt to it,” Wembanyana said. “I was kind of struggling in the game. But at the end of the game, I hesitated to request a sub. I told myself to just lock in and get over it because eventually, I’m going to have to play those minutes.”
Wembanyama tallied eight points to go with three rebounds, three assists and two blocks as San Antonio outscored OKC 34-22 in the fourth quarter.
“I just stayed on the court and worked my a– off,” he said. “This is how I was feeling. I had to get over the struggles.”
On the court 🏀
The Spurs suffered two losses to start off the week, closing out their annual Rodeo Road Trip with a record of 1-8 for the second consecutive season. The club hadn’t won a game since Feb. 12 (in Toronto) before Thursday’s triumph over the Thunder.
Since the All-Star break, Wembanyama is averaging 31.2 minutes on the floor after playing 28.4 minutes per game in the 49 contests prior to the break. Naturally, more minutes translated into more production for the 20-year-old.
He’s averaging 22.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 4.8 blocks in the five games post All-Star break. The rookie drained a season-high 41.3% of his attempts from 3-point range during February. Scary.
Home sweet home 🏡
Back in San Antonio for the first time in nearly a month, Wembanyama and the Spurs joined coach Gregg Popovich at the Champions Against Hunger Dinner on Friday night.
WEMBY AND FELLOW FRENCH ROOKIE SIDY CISSOKO MAKING THE ROUNDS TONIGHT AT THE #SPURS’ CHAMPIONS AGAINST HUNGER FUNDRAISER FOR THE @SAFOODBANK AT THE VICTORY CAPITAL PERFORMANCE CENTER. PIC.TWITTER.COM/K0JXPK56VT
— TOM ORSBORN (@TOM_ORSBORN) MARCH 2, 2024
The charity event is a collaboration between the Spurs and the San Antonio Food Bank, raising money for the fight against hunger. Wemby and his teammates took on roles as waiters and servers for the attendees at The Rock at La Cantera alongside Popovich.
That of course came after the Spurs blessed a sellout crowd of 18,392 at Frost Bank Center with the thrilling 132-118 victory over the Thunder after 26 days on the road.
In the euphoric aftermath of the win, Wembanyama couldn’t help but drop an expletive that whipped up the crowd to crescendo.
“What I love is watching the reactions from my bench and the fans,” he said. “That’s what I look at when I watch the games afterwards and the highlights. I really feed off that. I love it; giving the fans pleasure, and even more seeing that my guys on the bench are happy.”
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