Victor Wembanyama Became The 3rd Player Ever With Multiple 5×5 Games

Victor Wembanyama played in his 79th career NBA game on Thursday night in Utah, as the Spurs came back from an early 11-point deficit to blowout the Jazz, 106-88. Last year’s Rookie of the Year led the way on both ends of the floor for San Antonio as he often does, and he made a bit of NBA history along the way.

For the second time in his young career, the 20-year-old Frenchman posted a 5×5 performance, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and five blocks, and in doing so, he became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 5×5 games in his career, alongside Hakeem Olajuwon (6) and Andrei Kirilenko (3).

To be third all-time in anything in the NBA at 20 years old is insane, and he certainly has set a pace where he figures to obliterate Olajuwon’s record of 5×5 performances. Given that Olajuwon is one of the all-time great two-way players, that’s pretty terrific company for Wemby — and Kirilenko is one of those guys that was perhaps a bit ahead of his time as a do-it-all wing. What’s still terrifying is that Wembanyama is still figuring a lot of things out at the NBA level, particularly how to consistently reach his ceiling offensively given he’s already one of the league’s best defensively. Once he gets comfortable with where his spots are on the court and starts to trim the fat, so to speak, with his shot diet and pick up the efficiency on that end, there’s just not going to be anything you can really do with him.