Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs made it eight wins in a row by blowing out the Milwaukee Bucks 127-95 at Fiserv Forum on Saturday. It was just yet another fine defensive showing by these Spurs, and Wemabanyama was asked postgame what people don’t understand about playing defense in the NBA.
“Before I got here, it is a lot of talk… nobody defends anymore, or there’s no defense in the NBA,” Wembanyama said, via the Spurs. “I heard that a lot before coming here, but it’s just not true. Players are just that good. I was surprised by the dedication of the whole staff when I got here… People actually do guard in the NBA and do lots of scouting.”
It’s been one of the biggest criticisms of today’s NBA that no one plays defense. It’s not just the old heads in the media or the players who were in the league in the 1980s and 1990s that are critical, either.
Back in 2024, the recently retired John Wall said today’s NBA is hard to watch because no one plays defense. Former NBA champion Tony Allen also ripped modern defenses for lacking the effort of previous eras. Allen’s primary point was about the drop coverage that gets played when defending the pick-and-roll. He wants to see defenders fight over screens instead of going under as they tend to do.
While that might be fair, defensive players are running around a whole lot more nowadays due to the spacing. With how almost everyone can shoot from outside, they’re having to spend a lot more energy on defense. So, to say they lack effort in general wouldn’t be accurate.
Combine spacing with the defensive three-second rule and the ban on hand-checking, and playing defense gets a whole lot tougher. There is no denying the fact that the rules definitely favor offenses in today’s NBA, but to say no one plays defense would be inaccurate.
Wembanyama certainly plays defense. The 22-year-old is the best defender by far in today’s NBA and could well go down as the greatest defensive player ever.
Wembanyama is averaging 24.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game for the Spurs in 2025-26. The two-time All-Star would be recording even more blocks if players weren’t so hesitant to attack the basket when he’s anywhere near them.
Against the Bucks, Wembanyama had 23 points (7-21 FG), 15 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block to help the Spurs improve to 56-18. There were multiple occasions in this game where Bucks players just passed the ball when they were up against him because they knew it was pointless to even put up a shot. The defensive impact is simply otherworldly.
Getting back to Wembanyamas’ original point, Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic would wholeheartedly agree with it. Jokic bluntly stated the notion that no defense is played in the NBA is nonsense.
“The NBA is by far the best league in the world, with the best players,” Jokic said. “Where you have all kinds of talents, all kinds of types of players, different sizes, different body types.”
“When people say… man… when people… I’m glad I get to say this,” Jokic stated. “This is why I’m glad we’re doing this interview. When people say there’s no defense played in the NBA, that’s such nonsense.”
“Whoever says that, whether it’s a coach, I think they don’t know what they’re talking about,” Jokic added. “I’m lying, I misspoke. They don’t follow it. If they follow it and still say that, then they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
That’s arguably the smartest mind in the game today saying it. Jokic isn’t the type to fire shots, so for him to say that people who think no defense is being played have no idea what they’re talking about is quite something.
