Wembanyama’s Lackluster Debut Proves He Will Become a Star. Here’s Why:

Victor Wembanyama had a rather underwhelming start to his fledgling NBA career. In the esteemed NBA summer league, Wembanyama managed a measly 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 blocks, and an unfortunate 3 turnovers. His shooting performance was equally lackluster, with a meager 2 for 13 from the field, and an abysmal 1 for 6 from three-point range. I must say, it was quite disappointing for a game that attracted a sold-out crowd, with fans enduring scorching triple-digit heat and waiting for hours on end just to enter the arena. Frankly, the outcome was predictable. Despite the grand expectations surrounding Wembanyama as the next LeBron James, he failed to assert his dominance on the court. However, let me tell you on why you shouldn’t write off Wembanyama just yet. He may have had a less than stellar debut, but he still harbors the potential for greatness.

The suspense just to watch Wembanyama on the floor grew every second. The end of the game between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers took much longer than expected to complete, thanks to the game coming down to the wire. People (myself included) were ridiculously impatient for the game to end, just wanting to get to the main attraction. When the game finally ended on a Jabari Smith Jr buzzer beater, people were excited, and wanted the next game to offer the same amount of excitement.

Watching Wembanyama on the first few plays of the game, I could feel the urge of everyone in the stadium to expect him to do something historic or truly great, even through my screen. I’ll repeat this over and over again, these expectations (even for a potential all-time great) are ridiculous.

Let’s actually look at Wembanyama’s performance though, because while the numbers seem underwhelming, I’m actually very impressed with what I saw. The main reason people are critiquing his debut was his shooting and scoring. Let’s face it: Wembanyama is an above average shooter for your average NBA center, but he didn’t shoot particularly high from three in France. Add in all the pressure and stress he was facing, and it makes perfect sense why Wemby shot as low as he did. His bag isn’t very deep at the moment, and I think with some time to just get in the gym and work, his offensive arsenal will increase dramatically.

There’s a few other factors at play here. First of all, look at the Spurs summer league roster! It’s not the most impressive group of guys, and only a few outside of Wemby will go on to play NBA minutes. Even for a generational talent, the saying holds true that a team is only as strong as its weakest link; in San Antonio, that weak link is quite weak.

It’s also worth mentioning that Matt Nielson is the Spurs’ summer league head coach. I mean no disrespect towards Nielson at all by mentioning him, and I’m sure he’s a good coach. But at the same time, he’s not Gregg Popovich. Popovich is the one that’s mentored David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and will coach Wembanyama to great heights, not Matt Nielson.

The rest of the Spurs’ team has also been playing together already in the Summer League; Wemby just arrived to the party. The team is already starting to become familiar with one another, and then a generational prospect was just thrown in their laps and they were told to play with him. It’s going to take some time to adjust.

While the box score may not have been super impressive to most fans, we can’t deny the final score of the game: 76-68, a Spurs victory. Even if Wembanyama didn’t contribute massively on the offensive end, his defensive presence was wonderful. He made Hornets’ players wary of driving on him, and finished the game with five blocks. Charlotte shot 29.9% from the field! If you think they would’ve shot that low without Wemby in the paint, then I am inclined to disagree with you. Wembanyama had five blocks, one of those being on a Brandon Miller pull-up three. Wemby looked more than competent playing defense both in the paint and on the perimeter. That switch-ability will serve him very well down the road in his NBA career.

The point of basketball games is to win them, yes? Wembanyama contributed to winning. In 27 minutes, I’d say he was a big part of the reason why the Spurs won the game. So, in conclusion:

1. Wembanyama had a poor shooting night, yes, but still played very well defensively
2. We can’t judge someone this quickly off of one summer league game
3. He will improve with time, and under the tutelage of Greg Popovich

In addition, I am disgusted by this tweet from Jay King, and would like to address it.

Jay King is a writer for The Athletic, but as a reporter for the Boston Celtics, I would expect him to do a little bit more digging and not be so quick to judge. One of the reasons why LeBron was at Peach Jam is because his son, Bryce James, is playing at Peach Jam. The eldest James even coached one of his son’s games, with Rajon Rondo acting as an assistant.

Second, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attended Wembanyama’s debut. Is Jabbar not a real hooper? Is he “less knowledgeable” than LeBron about who will become a star or a bust?

Third, the notion that there’s a secret that Wembanyama is a bust, and people are just starting to realize it is absolutely ridiculous. Players turn out as busts because there skills don’t translate to the next level, or injuries derail them, such as Greg Oden. The draft ultimately is a crap shoot, and it’s difficult to tell what players are going to turn out well and which ones won’t.

Fourth, not playing well in the Summer League for highly drafted players can often be a sign that they will blossom into All-Stars and MVPs. I highly suggest watching Mike Korzemba’s videos on this topic for more detail (they are linked here), but to summarize, plenty of mediocre NBA players have immense success in summer league, while All-Stars and MVPs struggle. The list of greats who didn’t play well in the summer league?

Stephen Curry (went on to become a 2x MVP and 4x champion)

Tim Duncan (5x champion, 2x MVP, Wemby’s comparison with the Spurs)

Derrick Rose (youngest league MVP in 2011)

Trae Young (All-Star)

Karl-Anthony Towns (All-Star)

Brandon Ingram (All-Star)

D’Angelo Russell (All-Star)

Chris Paul (All-Star)

Zion Williamson (All-Star)

Oh, and you know who else struggled in the summer league, coming into the NBA heralded. as the greatest prospect ever with the weight of the world on his shoulders? LeBron James himself! LeBron played terribly in the summer league, and is a consensus top two player of all-time. LeBron is a smart guy, and just because he didn’t attend Wembanyama’s first summer league game doesn’t mean that he thinks Wemby is going to be a bust.

 

You would’ve been laughed out of the building for calling LeBron James a bust when he first came into the league. 20 years from now, you’ll be laughed out of the same building for having even thought about calling Victor Wembanyama a bust. Let this blog post stand the test of time, and let it serve as a reminder years from now to our “hot take” culture that we should not be so quick to pass judgement on rookies who’ve literally played one game.

Hopefully you walked away from this with a new or changed perspective, and if you know ANYONE calling Wemby a bust this early, please do me a favor and send them this article. Hope you enjoyed, and as always, have a great day.

 

Credit for Pictures:

Lucas Peltier/USA Today Sports/Reuters

Sports Illustrated

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