In just his third NBA season, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has successfully taken the Spurs to a place of prosperity. At 50-18, his team is just 3.5 games back from the first seed in the West as he sits squarely near the top of the MVP leaderboard. Still, as he recently explained to Jared Weiss, his ambitions (both this season and after) go beyond the 50-win mark.
“There’s growth,” said Wemby. “There’s still not enough. I want to get at least 60 to balance out my rookie season.”
The Spurs won their 50th on Monday, in a 119-115 rout over the Clippers. Victor delivered 21 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and four blocks on 9-20 shooting. It was a relatively quiet scoring night for him, but the Spurs managed to win regardless, with solid contributions from Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle. It was an impressive showing on all fronts, but not far from what we’ve seen all season long.
For the Spurs, that victory marks the first time since 2016-17 that they have won at least 50 games or more. In Victor’s rookie season, they finished 14th in the standings at 22-60. Last campaign, with Wembanyama limited to just 46 games, they went 34-48 to finish 13th in the West. Today, they have the third-best record in the entire NBA at 50-18.
For his part, Wembanyama has been exceeding the hype with averages of 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists,1.0 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game on 50.6% shooting from the field and 36.1% shooting from three this season. As a Rookie of the Year and 2x All-Star already, Victor is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA, but he’s only just getting started (with so much left to prove).
Of course, before Webanyama can put himself with the legends, he’s going to have to win when it matters. That means, as much success as his Spurs are having, it won’t do much to enhance his already iconic legacy. At this stage, Victor doesn’t just want to succeed; he wants to thrive. Besides going for 60 wins, he wants to put the Spurs in a position to win it all and live up to their historic potential as a team.
With steep competition in the West, the road ahead will not be easy, and it will push his team to its limits. But if Victor can stay healthy and focused on the task at hand, it will give the Spurs a fair shot against any opponent.
