Here are some of the awards that Victor Wembanyama received over the last 12 months: the trophy, a spot on the All-Rookie team, a three rookie of the month awards and most recently an Olympic silver medal.
They鈥檙e all nice. They鈥檙e also not enough.
Wembanyama wants more, much more, and as the San Antonio Spurs star from France gets set to enter Year 2 of his NBA career 鈥� after living up to practically every lofty expectation there was in Year 1 鈥� he鈥檚 not shy about saying that he鈥檚 thinking bigger.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same for all of my trophies, team trophies or even individual,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淚 love them. I really cherish them. But I want all my trophies that I get right now to be bricks to build something great in the future. You know, one brick by itself is not much. You can get a palace when you accumulate them.鈥�
Let the building process continue, then.
If San Antonio is going to get back into the playoff mix this season, Wembanyama will have to be one of the biggest reasons why. Still officially listed at 7-foot-3 by the Spurs 鈥� he looks at least a couple of inches taller, though he says he hasn鈥檛 grown 鈥� Wembanyama knows all eyes are on him this season, even though there probably isn鈥檛 anybody in the NBA that can look him eye to eye. He was the and the runner-up in the defensive player of the year balloting after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, a league-best 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game last season.
He likely will be an All-Star this season. He already is getting talked about as an MVP candidate. He鈥檚 the favorite to win defensive player of the year. There鈥檚 been only a handful of players who have garnered this much respect going into their sophomore NBA year, and Wembanyama has earned everything that people say about him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of time,鈥� Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. 鈥淵ou know, he鈥檚 an incredible talent. He鈥檚 very dedicated as well. I think we saw that summer in the Olympics, particularly in France when there were great expectations for that team. And the biggest moments are when he played his best, including our final game. I think that was his best game. But the last two or three games, you could see it trending in that direction when they really needed him to step up. That was impressive.鈥�
鈥� where Wembanyama had the basketball gold-medal hopes of an entire host nation on his shoulders 鈥� were yet another stage where he did not disappoint. He averaged 15.8 points and 9.7 rebounds, was picked as FIBA鈥檚 Rising Star of the tournament and made the All-Star Five (FIBA鈥檚 version of an all-tournament team) alongside Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Dennis Schroder.
Wembanyama saved his best for last in Paris, scoring against the U.S., enough to keep France close but not enough to overcome the made in the final minutes to seal a fifth consecutive Olympic title for the Americans.
It was yet another reminder that Wembanyama isn鈥檛 on his way to stardom. He already is there, and the Olympics might be a springboard to the next level of stardom.
鈥淰ictor was great,鈥� said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who watched Wembanyama in Paris. 鈥淗e improved steadily throughout the Olympics and ended up being very formidable. But for all the players over all these years that have played in FIBA and gone in the summertime, it鈥檚 always a plus.鈥�
Wembanyama finds inspiration from all around the game. He raves about the WNBA star from the Indiana Fever. (鈥淲hen she was in college 鈥� the only college player that I was in awe of. I鈥檓 saying men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball. She鈥檚 probably the most impressive,鈥� Wembanyama said.) And he鈥檚 eager to learn from a couple of highly decorated veterans that the Spurs brought in this summer, and Harrison Barnes.
鈥淗e works extremely hard,鈥� Paul said of Wembanyama. 鈥淗is ability to shoot, pass, dribble, do everything, his defense 鈥� it鈥檚 taken some getting used to. We鈥檙e a work in progress.鈥�
As point guard, for Wembanyama on the court. That doesn鈥檛 mean he will take it easy on Wembanyama off the court. The Spurs had a during the preseason and Paul beat Wembanyama in the semifinals.
That didn鈥檛 sit well with Wembanyama. And what he said after that for-bragging-rights event might shed some light on his true mindset entering his second NBA season. In short, when he faces a challenge a second time, he wants to do better than he did the first time around.
鈥淭oday, he鈥檚 the best. It鈥檚 not going to last,鈥� Wembanyama said after the table tennis showdown. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a lot of experience in pingpong, but I鈥檝e improved a lot lately. So, it鈥檚 not going to last.鈥�
He doesn鈥檛 have a lot of NBA experience either. But he鈥檚 improved. The league knows what鈥檚 coming. He was almost unguardable last year and he鈥檚 going to be better now.
鈥淎 successful year would be a year where we don鈥檛 lose time doing the mistakes we did last year and we apply our improvements right away,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going well because when I watch everybody 鈥� and I watched everybody during the summer 鈥� everybody was putting in some super hard work. And it just seems like it鈥檚 going to pay off.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
