Victor Wembanyama’s return to an NBA court has been nothing short of astounding, as he has come out for his third season in the league eager to make a statement about his place as one of the league’s elite already.
The 21-year-old is averaging 31.0 points, 13.8 rebounds, 4.8 blocks, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 60.3/36.4/80.0 shooting splits in the first four games of the season, leading the Spurs to a 4-0 record. Those are preposterous numbers and still may not do justice to how utterly dominant he’s been on the floor this season.
His play has caused everyone, from fans to media to his peers, to take notice. While Wembanyama entered the season the prohibitive favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year (-210), he was not expected to be in the MVP conversation quite yet, but his early play has quickly rocketed him up the MVP odds list into second (+310), just behind the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+170) at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Draymond Green is among those who have been taking note of Wemby’s early dominance, and on “The Draymond Green Show” he said he could see the young Frenchman sweeping the major NBA awards if he keeps up this pace.
“We must talk about Wemby,” Green said. He was almost trying to go at [Anthony Davis] as if he got something against him. And not that it was in a manner, but he dunkin’ and screamin’ and like, he was on one. Then Game 3 comes, this is what he’s on. He’s on like, ‘I want the next MVP award and I don’t want it like, then, I want it now.’ He stay at this pace at this level, he’s gonna be like MVP, DPOY, Most Improved Player. He’s gonna be in position to compete for all those awards. And so I think, man, when you look at him, you can only sit and wonder what type of player is it gonna take to guard him?”
While it’s only the first week of the season, Wembanyama is truly moving different to start the 2025-26 campaign. His promise to add strength has shown up in a big way, as he’s bullying opponents and getting to the rim at will. His globe-trotting quest this summer to acquire as much knowledge and skill as possible, working out with Kevin Garnett and Hakeem Olajuwon (and monks) has also been evident in the footwork and vast array of moves he’s been able to put into action at game speed.
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The terrifying part about Wembanyama’s start for the rest of the league is that it doesn’t feel all that unsustainable. He’s cut way back on the 3-pointers, taking six fewer per game this season. Instead he is attacking the paint and is on pace to shatter the league record for dunks in a season. There’s no outlier shooting performance buoying his scoring jump, and instead it looks like he’s simply unlocked how to get to his spots in a variety of ways that makes him impossible to stop.
On defense he’s leading the league in blocks again and is terrorizing opponents at the rim. Even when he doesn’t block a shot, opposing players are constantly rushing shots or passing back out to the perimeter in fear that he’ll rotate over and swat them away. That’s also not going to change as the season goes on, as he’s led the league in blocks in each season he’s been in the NBA — including last year when he missed 36 games.
Ever since he arrived in the NBA, we’ve been wondering when he would take the mantle as the league’s most dominant force. A week into his third season, it appears it might have already happened, which is sooner than most anyone anticipated.
