Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama poses ‘terrifying’ realization for rest of NBA | Sporting News

Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić and even LaMelo Ball are the NBA superstars of both the present and the future, but it’s already incredibly apparent that their era will be headlined by Victor Wembanyama.

At only 20 years old, he is the runaway favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year and has managed to average 32.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and shoot an impressive 40.7% from 3-point range. 

Those numbers would be elite for anyone, but for a 7-foot-3 center who can’t order a Shiner, they are already legendary.

On Sunday night, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Sacramento Kings, 127-125. Wembanyama recorded his third career triple-double, but the Spurs’ coaching staff was not impressed. 

“I thought he had some very poor moments in the first three quarters in terms of fundamentals and solid basketball,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson told reporters after the game. 

Wembanyama is already one of the best players in the league, and his current domination has largely been overshadowed by his potential. The general expectation is that he will quickly become the very best player in the NBA and eventually cement himself as an all-time great. With that sort of burden on his shoulders, he has still managed to live up to his pre-draft hype, and 29 teams will have to quickly reckon with the type of player they will have to play against for the better part of the next two decades.

“The dilemma — and the terrifying part for the rest of the league, really — is that Wembanyama is the rare athlete who is still developing at a rapid rate while already dominating,” wrote The Athletic’s Sam Amick on Monday.

Wemby is all but a lock to make the All-Star game and will certainly be in All-NBA conversations near the end of the season. The scary part? He’s only getting better, and as he continues to process the NBA game, it’s hard to say just how good he might become. 

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