San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama backed up what it means to be a generational prospect on Wednesday night.
The Spurs defeated the Dallas Mavericks thanks to Wembanyama’s legendary 52-point, 24-rebound performance. He also had eight blocks.
On the other hand, Mavericks’ young star Cooper Flagg has been all the hype. Despite being a year behind Wembanyama, he didn’t play as well, scoring just 19 points on 19 field goal attempts despite grabbing 10 boards.
While both of these prospects are labeled as generational, Wembanyama has proven to be on another level.
“America, I wish I could come up with something that sounds smart,” Charles Barkley said on ESPN’s Mavericks vs. At halftime of the Spurs match. “This is just ridiculous.”
We really have run out of adjectives to describe Wembanyama. Barkley was speechless at halftime of San Antonio’s eighth regular-season game, marveling at what the young man is capable of.
On a given night, Wembanyama can go completely nuclear. Imagine a player going off for 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks against your favorite team. That’s what Mavericks fans had to endure in a hard-fought basketball game last night.
Wembanyama effects the win.
Especially in the regular season of NBA basketball, we see kids stuffing the stat sheet a lot.
Although they play different positions, guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden have had careers filling up the stat sheets, leading them to multiple MVP trophies between the two of them. But none of them have ever won an NBA championship.
Wembanyama is certainly bleeding last season after missing out on a title shot after beating the New York Knicks Spurs in five games. After a lot of trash talking, Wembanyama became one of the biggest jokes of this series.
But entering his fourth professional season, Wembanyama looks as dangerous as ever. He is a legitimate MVP threat. Not just for this season, but probably for the next 10 seasons as long as he stays healthy.
How crazy is what Wembanyama did?
The 22-year-old has already played in his first NBA Finals. Defeat clearly stirred something inside him. The third NBA season with the Larry O’Brien trophy in hand did not end as expected. It feels like the NBA is worse for wear as a result.
While the Spurs are still a very young team, it’s unthinkable to imagine a world in which Wembanyama doesn’t win a few titles in San Antonio. We are witnessing the beginning of what could literally be a legendary career.
Postseason success and championships will ultimately be what goes against Wembanyama, but Wednesday night served as a reminder of what he is capable of.