Victor Wembanyama Highlights: NBA Rookie of the Year Contender

I know what you're thinking, another Wemby video from NBA YouTube

And let's face it, over the past calendar year, everyone on Basketball YouTube and NBA YouTube

have been making videos on Victor Webanyama because it's been such an easy way to get views

He was the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, and I've held off on making a Wemby

video because I felt like everybody was, and I didn't just want to do it to get views

Plus, I felt like there were other NBA storylines I could tell a better story of. But after this performance on Friday night versus the Los Angeles Lakers and his overall play over the past month or so for that matter

I can no longer ignore what Victor Webanyama is doing and not make a video about it

Like I said, he was the most hype prospect since LeBron James, yet somehow, someway, he is completely exceeding all expectations

I don't think any of us expected him to be this good this fast

and on Friday night versus the Lakers, he became just the 15th player in NBA history

to put up a five by five. What's a five by five, you may ask

Five plus points, five plus rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. The last time it was done in the NBA

was by Nurkic in 2019. Victor put up 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists

so almost a triple-double alongside this five by five, and of course, five steals and five blocks

while playing just 31 minutes in this game. That is absolutely absurd

He's also the second player ever to put up 25 plus points and 10 plus boards alongside

Akeem Olajuwon in his 5x5 performance. And to make things even crazier, this came one night after he narrowly had a 5x5 again

versus the Sacramento Kings, falling just one assist short, which made Wemby the first

player ever since blocks began being recorded to average a 5x5 across two games

And let's not forget that he had 10 blocks versus the Raptors just before the All-Star break

I can't even state all of the records he's breaking this season, so I'm just going to throw up this tweet that you can stop and read

The man turned 20 years old seven weeks ago. But I think my favorite part about these last couple performances from Wemby

is what he had to say after the fact. To me, it's secondary. Hopefully in the future and think this is a good performance but as of today I can be satisfied with the loss And of course LeBron had this to say about him He doesn have a ceiling He can do whatever he wants to do with his career As far as havoc defensively there are guys in our league that you have to account for

anytime you get around the rim or around the perimeter in our league history, and he sits

right at the top of it, if not around the top with all the greats. And although the Spurs have

been god-awful this season, going 11-46, Victor is running away with the Rookie of the Year award

Across this season, he's averaging 20.6 points per game, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 3.3 blocks

and 1.3 steals in just 28 minutes per game. Let's compare these stat lines to the last 20

Rookie of the Year award winners. Blake Griffin compares when it comes to points and rebounds

but he also played in 38 minutes per game. The closest actual comparable stat lines

besides the guys from the 60s and 70s like Wilt and Kareem, are Tim Duncan in 97 and David

Robinson in 1989. Oddly enough, both of them were number one overall picks for the Spurs

but they would average 39 minutes per game and 36 minutes per game respectively in their rookie

seasons. If we take victors per 36 adjusted stats, here's what we get for a stat line. 26 points per

game, 12.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals, 4.1 blocks per game, and he's still shooting threes

at 32% on six attempts per game. Again, I have no words

Across his last 15 games, Victor's averaging 22 points per game on 37% from three with five attempts

84% from the free throw line, 10 boards, four assists, 3.4 blocks

1.8 steals, which is good for ninth in the entire NBA in that span

Outside of blocks, which even then don't tell the full story, these stats don't really show you

how incredible Victor has been defensively. He's currently rated seventh in defensive estimated plus minus

per dunksandthrees.com. He's leading the NBA in blocks per game and stocks per game

but it isn't just his rim protection. He also has an innate ability to not foul

He's leading the league in a block to foul ratio by a wide margin at 1 blocks per foul He also has the best defensive rating on the Spurs by over 1 points per 100 possessions He has all the potential in the world to be the best defender and the best offensive player in

the entire league when he hits his prime. But on the offensive end, I think the thing that's

impressed me the most about Wemby is his passing. I mean, just look at some of these assists

the floor vision, the craftiness, the ability to fit these passes in and get creative is something

you just don't see from guys seven foot plus. His shooting is another thing that obviously sets him

apart on the offensive end. He's one of only seven players to record over three blocks per game

as a rookie, but none of those six guys, including Shaq, Alonzo, and David Robinson, shot any threes

His three-point percentage isn't fantastic right now, but it's not awful either at 31.8%, but I

don't think that's anything to worry about. Rookies rarely shoot it well from deep. If he can improve

that number to 36 37 38 it is probably game over because at that point there's nothing you can do

to stop him offensively also just watch this montage of his steals some of these steals he

is literally picking off bounce passes off the ground it's simply not fair this dude has an

eight foot wingspan and it's legitimately terrifying to throw a pass with him in the

vicinity i don't know how san antonio continues to do it with these number one overall picks

But Victor clearly, in my opinion, has the best opportunity out of anyone in today's game to truly challenge Michael Jordan or LeBron for that matter for the title of greatest of all time

I know I'll get some comments here saying I'm jumping the gun. I'm not saying he's going to be the GOAT

But I think it's pretty safe to say that when you have the most hype prospect since LeBron James coming into his rookie season and dominating like he is

Not to mention he's a one of one. There's nobody like him. He's 7'4", plays like a 6'5"

guard. A lot of people will try to say that Chet deserves a shot at rookie of the year because the

Thunder are winning. And I love Chet. I think Chet will be a fantastic player, an all-star

first team, all NBA potential. But please, Thunder fans, give it a rest. Victor has an awful team

around him a young team and Chet has the potential MVP of this season and a rising star in Jalen Williams he playing alongside that I may have to do an individual video on because Jalen Williams is freaking awesome at basketball There legitimately just two question marks in my opinion for the future of Victor career Number one the Spurs ability

to put a competitive team around him in the intermediate future. Maybe not next year

but 2025 or 2026, they better be vouching for a playing spot. The Spurs do have a decent amount

of draft capital over the next couple seasons. Some of those have protections on them and could

get pushed further out, but they are sitting nicely when it comes to the salary cap as well

They'll have about 20 million this summer to spend and expiring contracts in 2025, like Devontae

Graham. But I would love to see Santonio be as aggressive as possible. I'm not saying you have

to make a Rudy Gobert type trade or a Donovan Mitchell type trade when it comes to assets

but by 2025, let's get him some veteran, really good players to surround himself with

a competitive team at a young age. You do have Devin Massell, who I think could be a nice third

option on this team, but San Antonio needs to make some moves. I don't think developing

strictly with the draft is realistic. And then the second question mark for Wemby is his health

Now, to my knowledge, he doesn't have much of an injury history, which is awesome for a guy

at that size. However, we do always worry with guys who are lankier and super tall about lower

leg injuries. To me, I think that is the only way he does not become a hall of famer, which I know

is crazy to say. But either way, I think it is safe to say that somehow, some way, the greatest

prospect since LeBron James is exceeding our expectations this season. Enjoy it. The Spurs

may not be fun to watch as a team, but Wemby is incredible to watch. I would encourage you every

time you get to check him out, watch him play. He's putting together crazy stat lines on almost

a nightly basis at this point. I've seen some talking heads saying Victor is already a top 15

NBA player. While I don't know if I'd personally die on that hill or argue that way, I also wouldn't

argue against it either. It's close, very close, and if I were a betting man, I'd wager he ends up

on the second or third team All-NBA as early as next season. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed

this video, check out the video I just made on the impending potential redemption of Carl Anthony

Towns here, and as always, we'll see you on the hardwood