Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs have had a promising start to the 2025-26 NBA season, despite coming up short in their 118-116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last night.
While Wembanyama only shot 5/14 from the floor and fouled out late against the Lakers, as per NBA.com, the young French superstar has been terrific throughout the first few weeks of the year, averaging career highs so far in categories such as points, rebounds and blocks, as per ESPN.
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Overall, the Spurs big man has been an incredible offensive threat, and two time NBA champion Kenny Smith feels that the task of guarding Wemby is similar to the challenge teams in the 1990s had when they had to defend his former Houston Rockets teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.
“It’s interesting you said Hakeem…the shots they (opposing teams) were trying to make him take was the ones he was looking for,” Smith said during an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Countdown.
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“So, the same thing with Victor Wembanyama. You’re trying to get him into a step back three, no he’s looking for that. You were trying to send Hakeem Olajuwon baseline…he’s looking for the baseline spin.
“So, that’s what makes him difficult to guard is the shots that you traditionally would say we want this guy to take, that’s the shot he’s looking for. So, how can you stop someone when he’s indefensible on the offensive end.”
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Nov 5, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots against Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Perhaps the scariest thought for the rest of the league is that Wembanyama is only at the beginning of his third season in the NBA, and he is already proving to be a nightmare to handle.
It may not be long until opposition defenses will feel that Wemby is simply the ultimate basketball cheat code, if they haven’t reached that point already.
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