After making his debut for the San Antonio Spurs in the first two NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas, Victor Wembanyama sat down for an interview with ESPN. Wembanyama redeemed himself after a rocky offensive performance in his first game with a 27-point performance in his second outing.
The Spurs coaching staff decided to shut Wembanyama down for the remainder of the Summer League to prepare for training camp. National sports media talking heads speculated on whether or not Wembanyama could live up to the hype surrounding him as the best draft prospect since Lebron James.
In his Interview that aired during the third Spurs Summer League game, Wembanyama talked about how he defines success for his rookie season. His answers showed he is ready to live up to and even surpass the hype. Wembanyama wants to be the best No. 1 pick of all time.
“Better Than Every Guy Before Me”
“I’ve been looking into all the data of the past No. 1 picks and what impact they’ve had. I’m trying to be better than every guy before me.”
You have to admire the confidence it takes to say something like that on the record. It’s quite difficult for rookies to have an immediate positive impact on their teams. Some No. 1 picks that became NBA royalty struggled in their rookie seasons. NBA great Allen Iverson led the 76ers to a dip from 24 wins to 18 wins in his rookie season in 1996. It seems almost impossible to mention Wembanyama without making a Lebron James comparison. James improved the Cavilers’ record by 30 games in his rookie season.
Luckily for Wembanyama, the Spurs have had better luck with their No. 1 picks. Two Time NBA Champion David Robinson improved the Spurs’ record by 35 games in his rookie year. Ten years later Robinson was outdone by Tim Duncan who improved the Spurs’ record by 36 games in his rookie season.
Can Victor Wembanyama Improve The Spurs Record This Much?
For Wembanyama to meet his goal the Spurs need to win 59 games in the upcoming season. To put that in perspective the best record in the NBA last season went to the Milwaukee Bucks with only 58 wins. The 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets only recorded 53 wins. While Spurs fans would love to see their team back in the playoffs next season, you’d be hard-pressed to find a San Antonio-based media outlet predicting that outcome. Most casual fans would think this feat to be an impossibility. But Wembanyama himself believes he can do it. In his appearance on JJ Reddick’s podcast, Wembanyama impressed the host by saying that he is free in the universe.
Saying with certainty, “I know what I want to do, and nothing is going to stop me from doing it.”
Victor Wembanyama Putting In The Work
As an NBA rookie who wants to be the best No. 1 pick of all time, Wembanyama knows there’s a lot of work to do in preparation for the upcoming season. He’ll be spending a lot of time with new Spurs shooting coach Jimmy Baron to improve his 3-point shot. The NBA 3-point line is a bit further back than it is in FIBA. In his last season in France, a rare weakness in his game was his lack of proficiency at the 3-point line. He needs to improve from 25% to at least 33% to be effective beyond the arc in the NBA.
In an interview with Bleacher Report Wembanyama said we want to add Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Skyhook to his repertoire. Old-school NBA fans will remember the skyhook as an unguardable shot. Kareem towered over his opponents, standing at 7’2”. In basketball shoes, Wembanyama is 7’5”. If he can master the skyhook in the offseason, he could be unstoppable in the paint.
Wembanyama has been very open about his goals for his rookie year, and he seems willing to put in the work to achieve them. He is not participating in the FIBA World Cup this year to prepare for his rookie NBA season. We’ve never seen an NBA player at his height have such fluidity of motion and a borderline extreme sense of confidence in his abilities.
Wembanyama wants to be the best No. 1 pick of all time. Do you think he can do it? Comment on your take below.
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