Victor Wembanyama has had a slow start to the season, but the San Antonio Spurs center looked like the player that everyone expected him to be against the Utah Jazz. Despite a narrow 111-110 loss, Wembanyama finished with 24 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocks, and shot six-of-nine from three.
With that stat line, he's the only player in NBA history to have multiple games with 20+ points, 15+ rebounds, 5+ three-pointers, and 5+ blocks. Wembanyama is a special talent, and coming into the league, he was looked at one of the more unique players in the league because of what he can do at his size.
Wembanyama will continue to put up stat lines like this, and he may break more NBA history in just his second season in the league.
Victor Wembanyama hit with ‘tired' label early in Spurs' season
So far this season, Victor Wembanyama's shooting numbers have been down from his rookie season, and some are saying that he may be feeling the effects of playing so much basketball in the past few months, more than he's probably played in his entire life.
“At least one scout told ESPN Wembanyama has looked tired early this season, after the combination of 71 NBA games last year, followed by the Paris Olympics, where the hosts nearly knocked off the Americans in the gold medal game in August,” Tim Bontemps wrote.
“Wembanyama decided to skip the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which greatly disappointed French fans and contributed to them not advancing to the medal round,” Windhorst wrote. “He and his advisors were already looking ahead to how demanding the following 24 months were going to be in the NBA. Wembanyama didn't take much time off after the Paris games, either, rather quickly choosing to go to San Antonio to start workouts with teammates.”
As the season progresses, his number should go up, but it's no surprise that he's struggling after an eventful offseason.