In the American Airlines Center, Victor Wembanyama, along with Julian Champagnie, contemplated his performance. His verdict was clear: “That was niiiice”. Minutes earlier, the French player had executed a fake that lifted P.J. Washington, and then, with a dribble, headed towards the basket and performed a spectacular reverse dunk that resonated in the pavilion, unleashing euphoria on the San Antonio Spurs bench. In a crushing 125-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Wembanyama demonstrated everything he learned during a transformative summer that changed him physically and mentally. “I was much more in control of myself,” Wembanyama commented. “As for the mind, I’m not worried because I saw what it’s like to face the possibility of losing a lot, whether it’s your career or your health. So I no longer take this for granted. The body? I have more fun now that it doesn’t cost me so much to move. I know I still need to improve, and I’m going to keep improving.” The blocks, the dunks, the shots, the refinement of his footwork and post moves, not to mention the intuition to know how to deploy them in the best way, contradicted the fact that Wembanyama had not played an NBA game in 8 months and 11 days before the victory against the Mavericks. The lack of rhythm was non-existent, as Wembanyama dominated, becoming the first player since 1977-78 to score 40 points with 15 rebounds, 3 blocks and 0 turnovers, with 70% field goal efficiency. Wembanyama’s 40 points are the most for a player in a season-opening game in the history of the San Antonio franchise.
Dallas started the game with its starting lineup, with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II dominating the paint. Wembanyama outshone that group, scoring 4 of 5 shots for 11 points with a block in the first quarter. Faking a pass to Harrison Barnes, Wembanyama froze the first draft pick, Cooper Flagg, long enough to gain an advantage over the rookie and perform a dunk. Shortly after, Wembanyama assisted the second draft pick, Dylan Harper, for his first career assist. The Frenchman faked Lively to jump and then returned the ball to the Spurs rookie at the top of the key. Harper immediately returned it to Wembanyama in a give-and-go for a two-handed dunk over Lively.“He’s been out for eight months,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “So you saw him take the moment and play spectacularly. But honestly, the most impressive line [is] zero turnovers. The amount of fundamentally sound plays he made tonight was impressive.”
Mitch Johnson
That’s difficult now that Wembanyama’s teammates have found ways to give him high-efficiency shots. With 8:28 remaining before halftime, second-year guard Stephon Castle threw a transition alley-oop to Wembanyama, who escaped Dwight Powell, for an inverted dunk. It’s clear that last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year spent the preseason working with Wembanyama on their chemistry. Castle and Wembanyama scored or assisted on 42 of San Antonio’s 60 points in the first half, as the Spurs led by nine at halftime.“The guy is 7-3,” Davis said. “I think some of the officiating was a little questionable. But when he’s 7-3 and standing in front of you, nobody’s going to block a shot. He’s shooting over the top. At that point, you’re just praying he misses.”
Anthony Davis
Wembanyama perhaps had his most impressive play of the night during a 10-point run in the third quarter in which he made 3 of 4 shots with 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Wembanyama blocked a shot by Lively at the rim that Castle quickly connected to start a fast break. The guard immediately returned the ball to Wembanyama, who faked inside before scoring a step-back three as Lively committed a foul. Wembanyama completed the four-point play to increase San Antonio’s lead to 14 points. “It’s incredible. He’s a different player,” Flagg said. “You can’t know what he’s like until you’re on the court with him. It’s something I’ve never seen before. He was great tonight, but we have to do a better job trying to take away some of his shots, and we can’t foul him as much as we did.” Johnson replaced Wembanyama shortly after he connected on a 13-foot jump shot that put the Spurs up by 30. At that moment, Wembanyama admitted, he began to reflect on his summer of transformation and the long road initiated in February by a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.“It’s a lot of repetitions, a lot of watching videos together,” Castle said. “I feel like that helps and gets overlooked a lot. Being able to watch film with a guy that you’re going to do a lot of pick-and-rolls with and have a lot of transition baskets with definitely helped. Being able to know where he likes the ball with a double team, where they’re going to come from. We’ve been working on that all summer, and it’s starting to take shape.”
Stephon Castle
“We needed to make a statement in our locker room. The real feeling was that there was nothing more we could have done to help ourselves today. I felt we did everything we needed to. We felt ready and felt that we wouldn’t regret the things we should have worked on or the things we should have done in the summer. I felt comfortable with the work we did and with the preparation up to this point. Now all the dice are cast in the Western Conference.”“It feels like we try to put a brick every day to build a big mansion, and I felt the work was done for today,” Wembanyama said. “This is what we’ve been working for. This is what we’ve been fighting for, for so long, and I felt it fit. I felt I was in my place.
Victor Wembanyama
