Wembanyama: 40 Points and Absolute Dominance in NBA Debut with the Spurs

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 faked a move that left P.J. Washington in the air, and then executed a spectacular reverse dunk that made the hoop vibrate and unleashed euphoria on the San Antonio Spurs bench. In a demonstration of power, leading the 125-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Wembanyama showed the fruits of a transformative summer, both physically and mentally.

Much more in control of myself. 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 doing it.

Victor Wembanyama

The blocks, the dunks, the shots, the refined footwork, and the post moves, not to mention the intuition to know how to deploy them in the best way, proved that Wembanyama hadn’t 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 the court, becoming the first player since the 1977-78 season 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 San Antonio franchise history.

He’s been out for eight months. So he took the moment and played spectacularly. But honestly, the most impressive statistic is zero turnovers. The number of fundamentally solid plays he made tonight was impressive.

Mitch Johnson, Spurs coach

Dallas started the game with a big lineup that included Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II in the paint. Wembanyama outplayed 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 Cooper Flagg, the first draft pick, long enough to gain a step and execute a dunk with his hand in front. Shortly after, Wembanyama assisted Dylan Harper, the second draft pick, for his first career assist. Harper immediately returned the ball to Wembanyama in a “give-and-go” for a two-handed dunk over Lively.

The guy is 7-3. 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

Now it’s difficult, as Wembanyama’s teammates have found ways to give him high-efficiency shots. With 8:28 remaining before halftime, Stephon Castle, the second-year guard, threw an alley-oop in transition to Wembanyama, who outleaped Dwight Powell for a reverse dunk. It’s clear that last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year spent the preseason working on his chemistry with Wembanyama. 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.

There are many repetitions, a lot of video viewing together. I feel that helps and a lot is overlooked. Being able to watch videos with a guy you’re going to do a lot of pick-and-rolls with and have a lot of points in transition definitely helped. Being able to know where he likes the ball when there’s 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

Wembanyama perhaps achieved the most impressive play of the night during a 10-point streak 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 counterattack. The guard immediately returned the ball to Wembanyama, who faked inside before scoring a three-pointer backwards while 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. 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.

Cooper Flagg

Johnson replaced Wembanyama shortly after he made 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 journey initiated in February by a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.

It feels like we try to put a brick to build a big mansion every day, and I felt the work was done for today. This is what we have been working for. This is what we have fought for so long, and I felt it fit. I felt I was in my place.

Victor Wembanyama

We needed to make a statement in our locker room. The feeling was really that there was nothing more we could have done to help ourselves today. We felt like we did everything we needed to do. 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.