Victor Wembanyama finally made his NBA debut yesterday in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Even though Wemby was on the bench for most of the game due to foul trouble, his debut meant that the Spurs vs. Mavericks matchup was the most-watched NBA Opening Week game since 2018.
“Wednesday’s Mavericks-Spurs NBA regular season game, which marked the first game in the career of Spurs #1 pick Wembanyama, averaged a 1.7 rating and 2.99 million viewers on ESPN — the network’s most-watched Opening Week game since Rockets-Lakers in 2018, LeBron James’ first home game as a Laker (3.36M). Wembanyama’s debut, which peaked with 3.90 million from 10-10:15 PM ET, outpaced both Opening Night games on TNT (Lakers-Nuggets: 2.84M; Suns-Warriors: 2.71M).”
Not only was Wembanyama making his debut, but he was doing it against the star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Wembanyama didn’t end up living up to the incredible expectations but showed flashes to confirm that his talent is very real and dangerous. Even if his debut didn’t lead to a win on the court, Wemby has a lot of time to develop his game.
He scored 15 points on 6/9 shooting against the Mavericks.
Paul George Thinks Victor Wembanyama Is Going To Be Unstoppable
Prior to the start of the season, Paul George had some glowing things to say about the talent of Wembanyama. George was initially hesitant to say Wemby is going to have an instant impact in the NBA, but that changed after watching Wembanyama dominate preseason.
“I take back everything I said. I knew he was going to be successful in the league but I thought it was gonna be tougher than he’s making it look. Just because of his size, and our level of play versus what he used to play, I thought there’d be an adjustment… He euro’d without taking a dribble from the free-throw line, and flushed it. No one’s stopping that.”
We’ve already seen Vic struggle in an NBA game, so there’s a blueprint right now on how to get him taken out of the game. Wembanyama didn’t attempt a single shot inside the three-point line in the first three quarters because Grant Williams just wasn’t letting him move as freely on the court. The defensive pressure made it hard, but even then Wemby could just shoot over the top of anyone who guards him.
The Mavericks were prepared for Wembanyama, but they did get lucky with the foul trouble. Given how bad Dallas’ defense to start the game was, it was a miracle they kept it close enough to never be out of the game. Luka and Kyrie are a fierce duo and Wembanyama should not be disheartened at that loss.
He should be upset that Dereck Lively II outplayed him and hopefully, that motivates Wembanyama through the rest of his games during opening week.
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