Victor Wembanyama makes the unbelievable possible every time it takes the floor. Midway through his second season, Wembanyama is already an NBA All-Star and feels like a strong bet to make an All-NBA team by the end of the year. The San Antonio Spurs are still early in their development as a future contender, but Wembanyama has lived up to his ridiculous pre-draft hype to prove he’s the best building block in the league.
Victor Wembanyama blocked Damian Lillard on a play even the refs didn’t believe was possible
Wemby’s block was ruled a goaltend until video review confirmed it was somehow a clean swat.
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.
It’s already becoming difficult for Wembanyama to shock us because we’ve already seen him do so many amazing things on the floor. On Friday night against the Bucks, he turned in one of the more impressive performances of his career, that included one special example of his freaky ability.
Damian Lillard attempted a driving layup in the third quarter of the Bucks-Spurs game on Friday night. Wembayama came over late to block the shot, but it looked like goaltending, which was the officials’ initial ruling on the floor. The Spurs challenged the play and upon closer look, Wembanyama somehow picked this ball out of the air before it hit the backcourt.
It’s just wild that Wemby was able to reach the ball for a clean block here. Watch the play here:
The Spurs beat the Bucks, 144-118. Wembanyama finished wiht 30 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks in 31 minutes. He shot 9-of-20 from the field, 5-of-11 from three, and 7-of-7 from the foul line. For as great as those numbers are, they don’t capture the visceral thrill of watching Wembanyama make plays no one else can even dream of.
Wembanyama has a chance to become the greatest shot-blocker in league history — and yes, I know Hakeem Olajuwon is way, way ahead of the field. Wembanyama has 159 blocks in 40 games this season. Anthony Davis and Brook Lopez are tied for second in the league in blocks with 90. The difference between first and second (69 blocks) is the same as the difference between second and No. 108 (Bobby Portis) in the league block rankings.
Of course, this swat might not have even been Wembanyama’s most amazing play of the night. Watch his full compilation here:
It’s only a matter of time before Wembanyama is the best player in the world. Get in your championship runs while you still can.
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