Victor Wembanyama is getting ready for his sophomore season in the NBA, where he is expected to establish himself not just as one of the league’s best young stars, but as one of the best players overall.
After a bit of a slow start as a rookie, Wembanyama dominated the second half of the year and is the heavy favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. The Spurs are expected to take a leap as a team, with a win total projection in the 30s, in part due to adding a couple veterans but mostly because of what people think Wembanyama will be. As the young Frenchman finds his former idols becoming his peers, he’s learning not all stars in the NBA are made equal. In a video with Sports Illustrated as part of his preseason cover, Wembanyama spoke honestly about his thoughts on other stars in the league when asked what surprised him most about the NBA as a rookie.
“In a good and bad way, it’s how, truly, the best in the game are,” Wembanyama said. “How, in a good way, some of them are really impressive and inspiring in the way they approach the game every night. But others that I used to like, now it’s like, nah, I’m just not sure they deserve it. Like they don’t seem like they put as much work in as I thought.
“Some of the guys I’ve been watching growing up — I’m not disappointed, but I’m like, ah, that’s it? But some of them, talking like KD, I got to know Rudy Gobert even more with the national team, I know their work ethic. I know how they view the game and it’s really inspiring. I want to do the same. There are current players I admire, especially KD. Because I’ve seen the behind the scenes and I know it’s for real.”
I would love to know which stars fall into the second category for Victor, but it’s a fascinating quote that is representative of how Wembanyama approaches the game. He has that intense competitive drive that is often the separator of elite players, and it didn’t take him long to see what players share that with him and which ones don’t.