It's natural to link Victor Wembanyama with fellow San Antonio Spurs top overall draft picks Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
As far as Gregg Popovich and his coaching staff are concerned, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis provide better rookie season blueprints while Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and the likes of Kevin McHale provide examples that Wemby can try to emulate.
Spurs' Popovich opened up about Wemby on Friday and went into great detail in describing the realities of coaching the young generational prospect.
Wembanyama's ‘mentors'
“He's going to have it tougher. We actually showed him the rookie years of guys like LeBron, KD, Anthony Davis, and other people and they had tough initial years also 'cause they were top picks and didn't go to experienced teams. He's in that same situation,” the Hall of Fame Coach said about his young 7'3 star in reference to Robinson and Duncan, “David and Timmy had it a lot more amenable to understanding and improving more quickly probably. Victor's going to do it a lot more by hit and miss and by the time he spends on the court, but he's not going to get a lot of counsel from veteran leaders on what's going on on the court.”
“So we're spending a lot of time with film, showing him other players that have gone through the league, (like) Kevin McHale's post moves or Michael and Kobe's rocker steps, things like that. We didn't do that with Tim Duncan or David Robinson so we're trying to fill up his computer, so to speak, with experience because there aren't going to be people on the court doing that for him so it is a different situation,” the longest tenured coach in the NBA explained.
Wembanyama mature beyond his years
In continuing to outline how he and his staff are managing the the 19-year-old phenom, Pop praised the Spurs' leading scorer's attitude and demeanor.
“Fortunately, for myself and my staff, he wants to be coached. He wants to be told. He wants to be critiqued but then also wants to know what's the approved solution, that sort of thing,” the five-time NBA champion continued, “We've had no problem dealing with him the same way we did Tim. If Timmy wasn't rebounding, he heard it from me. That is something you're grateful for as a coach because not everybody's like that.”
“Luckily, he has a similar character, high IQ, he understands the game. He just has to spend time on the court 'cause he was no idea who he's guarding or who's guarding him until he goes through the cycle and figures it out,” Popovich said.
Unrealistic early expectations
From before he ever stepped onto an NBA court with the Spurs, Wembanyama has faced other-worldly expectations. While the international marvel has already shown glimpses of brilliance, his head coach reminds that those moments are not the standard.
“It's ignorant. It's ignorant. It's silly hyperbole. All the people who wrote things like that, those are the people who just watched the highlight film. And you can do a highlight film of anybody and it's amazing. He's a young 19-year-old kid, just like anybody else, who's got a lot of talent and it's got to all be channeled in the right way, and discipline and consistency has to come,” Popovich continued to detail, “In between highlight clips, there are going to be a whole lot of other things he needs to work on. Like I said, he knows that. He's masterful at being there early, staying late, working on foot movements or how to turn and face, working on his shot, whatever it might be.”
“I actually get a lot of smiles and laughs out of the way people would describe this kid. I think they did the same, similar kind of thing with LeBron and those kinds of things,” Pop concluded, “He just happens to be 7'3 so when he shoots a step back three, everybody goes, ‘Woah, I had never seen that before.' Yeah, you have. It just happens that he's 7'3 and it looks a little different.”
These extended comments easily mark the most specific Gregg Popovich has spoken about Victor Wembanyama's development since the season started.
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