Victor Wembanyama, the #1 overall pick from the 2023-24 NBA Draft has shown how great of a rookie he is, but has the 7-foot-3 “Alien” from France improved his performance in Year 2?
Extraterrestrial Debut
There is no doubt that Wembanyama was going to win the Rookie of the Year award in the 2023-24 season in the NBA. In Year 1 he averaged 21.4 Points, 10.6 Rebounds, 3.9 Assists, 3.6 Blocks, and 1.2 Steals while shooting 32.5% from beyond the arc in 5.5 attempts per game, 79.6% from the charity stripe with an average of 5.2 attempts per game and a Field Goal shooting of 46.5% in 16.7 attempts per game.
Wemby played 71 out of the 82 games, this stat line meant that he was taking care of his body, minimizing any catastrophic career-ending injury as a rookie as well as not having “load management” in his back-to-back games. Though in his first season as a Spur, he only won 22 games out in the regular season and finished as the #14 seed in the West.
New Heights to Reach
In his second year in the league, many fans expect Wemby to carry the Spurs organization back to its winning ways. As of writing this, the San Antonio Spurs have beaten the LA Lakers with a score of 126 – 102 improving their record to 19 – 19 becoming the #11 seed in the West.
Much to the overall team success that the Spurs are experiencing, Wembayama’s stats have improved even though we are roughly halfway through the season. Out of the 38 games this season, he played 33 games and he averages 25.1 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, 3.9 BPG, 1.1 SPG while shooting 35.3% from the three-point area and attempting 9.2 per game, and 86.8% from the free throw line while taking 4.1 attempts per night. His field goal shooting is a lot better now as he is 48.2% from the field while taking 18.9 shots per game.
These numbers are enough for Victor to be the #4 in the KIA MVP Ladder rankings which was reported by Shaun Powell of the NBA this January 11, 2025. He is behind 2x MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the #3 spot, 3x MVP Nikola Jokic at #2, and finally from the number 1 team in the West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Apart from that, he leads the league in blocks as well as being the #8 in the league leaders in rebounds. Most importantly, he’s the front-runner in the Defensive Player of the Year rankings.
The Era of “The Alien” Continues
Wemby being selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game this 2025 feels like it’s destined to happen in his 2nd year in the league. It was also widely believed that he deserved to play in the All-Star game in his first year. However, he must do everything he can to restore success to the Spurs organization. With the veteran leadership of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes along with the rising star talents of Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassel, Jeremy Sochan, and their star rookie Stephon Castle, this is clearly a playoff-bound team in a stacked Western Conference.
It was also reported last January 3 2025 by Tim Reynolds from the Associated Press of the NBA that after the first 100 games of Wembanyama, he recorded 2,278 Points, 1,053 Rebounds, 386 Assists, 366 Block,s and making 225 3-pointers. This is groundbreaking because after 100 games of their career, he surpassed Michael Jordan (2,721) and Zion Williamson (2,524) in points as well as becoming the first player since Shaquille O’Neal to at least average 20 points and 10 rebounds before turning 21 years old, the number two 7-foot center behind Bill Walton (440) in assists, being the #3 player behind Manute Bol (425) and David Robinson (383) in blocks and surpassing the All-Time Leader in 3 points Made, Stephen Curry who only had 200.
More than anything, he is indeed the future of not only the San Antonio Spurs but the NBA itself. Considering that LeBron James is already 40 years old and the media is looking for the next “Chosen One” to carry his crown of greatness, “The Alien” surely is following in the footsteps of success by the King of Akron, Ohio.
