Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA as one of the greatest prospects the game has ever seen. There have been many hyped rookies coming into the NBA, but Wembanyama is one of the only players that people legitimately debated taking over someone like LeBron James as an all-time draft prospect. The hype around the French center was incredible, and he has lived up to those expectations so far in the NBA.
Wembanyama is averaging 24.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks in his third season, with him potentially in-line to break Derrick Rose’s record as the youngest MVP in NBA history this season. He’s also expected to win Defensive Player of the Year, primarily because his 7’4″ height and eight-foot wingspan make him one of the best natural shot-blockers in NBA history.
Wembanyama’s size as a rim protector has single-handedly forced teams to try to beat the Spurs without engaging with him defensively. This was highlighted by LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum, who is also Wembanyama’s national teammate.
In an appearance on ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast, Batum revealed what former MVP Joel Embiid had to say about Wembanyama’s ability as a shot-blocker during Batum’s time with the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite having the tools to be the greatest shot-blocker ever, Embiid told Batum that Wembanyama won’t be able to break the all-time blocks record because opponents will simply stop trying to score on him at the rim out of fear.
“Someone told me that when he was a rookie, I think it was Embiid, that he won’t break the all-time record for blocks because people will be too scared to shoot in front of him. That might be true. Yes, he’s gonna block shots for the next few years, but at some point people are going to get so scared to shoot in front of him that he might average just one block a game because these people are too scared.”
Wembanyama has totaled 610 blocks in just 175 games in his NBA career. That’s an average of 3.5 blocks per game, which is impressive but a long way removed from what he needs to catch Hakeem Olajuwon’s all-time blocks record of 3,830.
If Wembanyama plays 15 more seasons in his prime form and has the good fortune of avoiding major injury, he’ll need to average 2.7 blocks per game to catch up to Olajuwon. This could be feasible, but we need to assume he’ll miss at least 10-15 games a season, given his track record so far. But if he maintains his current blocks per game rate, he genuinely could catch up to Olajuwon.
Given Wembanyama’s per-game block numbers are already on the way down compared to his first two seasons (3.1 this year compared to 3.8 last season), it shows that NBA teams are adjusting their offense against the Spurs. More than just a blocker, Wembanyama has become one of the greatest paint deterrents we have ever seen, as teams will elect not to even look at driving to the basket with the intention to score if Wembanyama is protecting the rim.
Embiid has averaged 1.6 blocks per game in his career, but he was never the defensive prospect Wembanyama was. He viewed the center as a prospect who was good enough to challenge Olajuwon’s blocks record before he even completed an NBA season. That’s huge praise from someone who was the reigning league MVP at the time. It’s safe to say that Wembanyama hasn’t disappointed anyone with his abilities so far.
