Victor Wembanyama’s third NBA season is about to be a movie. The San Antonio Spurs superstar is back on the court after a blood clot in his shoulder ended his season after the All-Star break, and he has the best supporting cast of his young career around him as he starts the 2025-26 campaign. Wembanyama feels like a lock to win Defensive Player of the Year if he stays healthy, and he’s a darkhorse MVP candidate, too. After spending the summer living with monks, training with Hakeem Olajuwon, and getting yelled at by Kevin Garnett, Wembanyama looks better than ever so far in the preseason, and opposing teams should be very afraid.
Victor Wembanyama dunked without jumping and ran over players like Shaq. The NBA should be terrified
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The Spurs took on the Indiana Pacers in preseason on Monday night, and Wemby once again showed all the ways in which he’s leveled up for this year. The 21-year-old looks stronger heading into this season, and he’s proving that he’s dedicated to playing with more force. Just watch the way he drops his shoulder and lowers the boom to create space for this two-handed flush.
Doesn’t that look like Giannis? Or maybe Shaq? Those all-time greats aren’t 7’5 like Wembanyama is, so that makes the prospect of him playing this way even scarier. We saw him run over teammates in the Spurs’ intrasquad scrimmage to start training camp, and he’s only going to be dolling out more punishment when the games start for real.
Wembanyama doesn’t need to rely on pure power because his length is already so insane. He has an 8-foot wingspan, longest in the NBA, and he knows how to use it. On this play, Wemby puts down the tip down without even jumping. How is this possible?
Like, what?
Wembanyama finished with 27 points in 25 minutes on 9-of-13 shooting in this game. He had 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a pair of three-pointers, as well. Yeah, he turned the ball over seven teams, but it’s still preseason, even for 7’5 aliens.
I wrote that Wembanyama was one of the best NBA Draft prospects ever a year before he was taken by the Spurs. He’s going to be awesome this year. Get on the bandwagon now.
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