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 “pump-fake” that lifted P.J. Washington, then, with a dribble, headed to the basket and performed a spectacular reverse dunk that resonated in the hoop, 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.
The blocks, the dunks, the shots, the footwork refinement and the post moves, not to mention the intuition to know how to deploy them in the best way, showed that Wembanyama had not played an NBA game in 8 months and 11 days before facing the Mavericks. The lack of rhythm was non-existent, as Wembanyama dominated the match, 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 the history of the San Antonio franchise.“I was much more in control of myself,” Wembanyama stated. “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 will continue to improve.”
Victor Wembanyama
Dallas started the game with its starting lineup, with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II in the paint. Wembanyama outshined 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 No. 1 draft pick, Cooper Flagg, long enough to gain a step on the rookie and perform a spectacular dunk. Shortly after, Wembanyama assisted Dylan Harper for his first career assist.Harper immediately returned the ball to Wembanyama in a “give-and-go” for a two-handed dunk over Lively.“He’s been out for eight months,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson commented. “So we saw him seize the moment and play spectacularly. But honestly, the most impressive line is zero turnovers. The amount of fundamentally solid plays he made tonight was impressive.”
Mitch Johnson
This is difficult now that Wembanyama’s teammates have found ways to give him high-efficiency shots. With 8:28 remaining before halftime, Stephon Castle threw an alley-oop in transition to Wembanyama, who soared over Dwight Powell for a reverse 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, and the Spurs led by nine at halftime.“The guy is 7-3,” Davis said. “I think some of the refereeing decisions were 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 just pray he misses.”
Anthony Davis
Wembanyama perhaps achieved his 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 rejected 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 a lot of repetitions, a lot of watching videos together,” Castle said. “I feel like that helps and it’s overlooked a lot. Being able to watch film with a guy that you’re going to run a lot of pick-and-rolls with and have a lot of transition points with 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
“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 of trying to take away some of his shots, and we can’t foul him as much as we did.”
Cooper FlaggJohnson 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 journey initiated in February by a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.
