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Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff Writer
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA CRACKED an uneasy smile as conflicting emotions took hold.
It was Aug. 10 inside Bercy Arena, on the outskirts of Paris, where 28 minutes earlier the 20-year-old Frenchman and the host nation had nearly upset the star-studded Team USA. Wembanyama had galvanized Team France to rally from an 11-point deficit to pull within 3, but it failed to stop Steph Curry & Co. from seizing a fifth straight gold.
Standing in the middle of the court, his 7-foot-4 frame towering over teammates, Wembanyama posed with the silver medal, genuinely smiling, with disappointment burning inside.
What few knew at the time is that as soon as the San Antonio Spurs‘ 2023-24 campaign wrapped in April, Wembanyama hit the team’s $500 million Victory Capital Performance Center with a vengeance, hungry to build the strength he lacked as a rookie.
He worked out for two months in San Antonio before leaving for the Olympics.
Wembanyama loved how those sessions manifested themselves over the summer on the international stage. How he could effortlessly unleash aggression and physicality on opponents in a way he wasn’t quite able to as a rookie, and doing so while maintaining his elite athleticism and body control, with an improved ability to play through contact.
“Those two months of hard work were enough to make me pass another step,” he said.
The next step would come upon returning to San Antonio.
“After the Olympics, I spent four or five weeks working here,” Wembanyama said. “It’s enough to make me pass another step. This is how I want to go. I want to keep progressing every year, every summer. It has helped me already through the Olympics, and I’m sure it’s going to help me during the season too.”
Teammate Devin Vassell called it all a “scary” proposition at media day for opponents, adding “you just don’t expect at his height what he’s doing. It’s almost normal now.”
The Spurs front office took steps in the offseason to ensure that, adding surefire Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul and veteran forward Harrison Barnes.
They join what was the NBA’s youngest roster last season, including Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan, as well as rookie lottery-pick Stephon Castle.
Then, of course, there’s the 20-year-old Wembanyama, the reigning Rookie of the Year and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game last season, becoming just the second rookie since Manute Bol in 1985-86 to lead the league in blocks.
Those numbers only include his 71 NBA games from last season. Wembanyama tallied those before toiling for months this summer refining his body, packing 25 pounds of muscle onto his physique. Before privately working on ballhandling, reads and shot creation with three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford. Before teaming up with an all-world point guard.
Welcome to Year 2 of the Victor Wembanyama era.
“I think there is still that unsureness of what he really can do, what he will do,” fourth-year guard Tre Jones said. “I think there will be nights where he still pulls off things that we have never seen before, and that’s just how it’s going to be for however many years.”
Back in Paris, Wembanyama’s silver medal dangled from his neck as he walked off the floor sporting a Team France Le Coq Sportif sweatsuit. Eyes still moist with tears, he couldn’t help but think about what is to come.
“I’m learning,” he told the San Antonio Express-News, “and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years.”
FIBA counterparts or NBA foes?
Wembanyama paused.
“Everybody.”
SPURS PLAYERS AND coaches often raved last season about Wembanyama’s penchant for erasing mistakes on defense, but it was a near miscue by Paul on offense that turned into the point guard’s first official highlight in San Antonio, courtesy of Wembanyama.
In the final minute of the opening quarter of Paul’s preseason debut Oct. 9 against the Orlando Magic, he drove to the basket as 6-11 Moritz Wagner slid over to defend, along with a trailing Cole Anthony. Midair, Paul spotted Wembanyama rolling to the basket.
He flicked a lob to Wembanyama, who elevated for a two-handed jam with his knees wrapped around the back of Wagner’s shoulders. The play marked the first in-game alley-oop between Paul and Wembanyama.
“I got caught in the air,” Paul said. “I was in trouble. It was nice to just look over there and see him to bail you out.”
THROW 👏 IT 👏 DOWN!!! pic.twitter.com/JOCpYKxDIs
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) October 10, 2024
San Antonio expects Paul to return the favor this season by improving its fortunes in an area where the team faltered in Wembanyama’s rookie year: clutch time, which is defined as a game separated by five points or fewer in the last five minutes. San Antonio played 41 such contests last season, finishing with a mark of 13-28.
The Spurs ranked 25th in clutch time offensive efficiency and 26th in turnover percentage. Wembanyama committed 15 turnovers last season in clutch time, tied for the league high.
So, the thinking goes, a premier setup man like Paul controlling the offense should alleviate some of those woes with smart basketball decisions and the discipline to resist forcing the ball to Wembanyama, who draws so much attention in late-game situations that other Spurs are often left wide-open. After all, Paul owns the designation as one of the NBA’s all-time great clutch performers.
“It just feels like he’s so wise and has so much experience,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Sometimes I get mesmerized just listening to him say things to players, and I say, ‘I should’ve thought of that.'”
Over 19 NBA seasons, Paul has knocked down 512 clutch time field goals, ninth most since 1996-97, when the league first started tracking play-by-play data. Over that span, 440 of those buckets in clutch time came unassisted. That ranks fourth behind LeBron James (645), Kobe Bryant (505) and Russell Westbrook (490).
Over the past five seasons, just 50 players have hoisted 200-plus shots in clutch time. Paul ranks No. 3 among that group in field goal percentage (49.5), behind Nikola Jokic (51.1) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (49.8), who own a combined five MVP awards.
Just last season, Paul dished 11 assists in clutch time with only one turnover.
“Being on the court with him feels like he’s got things in control,” Wembanyama said just after the duo made its preseason debut together in their win over Orlando. “It’s reassuring, and it’s one more teammate I can rely on in tough moments. The most important thing is he’s willing to tell us things. Every practice he gives us feedback on what he used to do, how defenses play him, how we can get more space. He’s approaching this in a very unselfish way.”
TEAM STAFFERS MARVEL at how quickly Wembanyama learns. One official pointed out as evidence the frequency at which Wembanyama served primarily as a screener in pick-and-rolls early in the season before developing into a capable ball handler in pick-and-rolls near the end of 2023-24.
“You don’t see a lot of times a guy that can shoot it as well as he can off the bounce playing in pick-and-roll,” Barnes said. “Maybe sometimes you’re being a shooter spotting up. But with Victor handling, maybe it’s cutting. Maybe it’s finding different ways to occupy. That’s just the good challenge we have, figuring out how you maximize a unique talent like him.”
That’s Wembanyama’s own personal conundrum, too, finding ways to coax the most from his body and skill set. The second-year man gained strength over the summer to prevent opponents from easily pushing him off his spots.
As a by-product, Wembanyama added an additional 25 pounds from his listed rookie weight of 210 pounds.
That’s helped Wembanyama to improve accuracy through contact.
“He’s shooting the ball really well, it seems like from everywhere,” power forward Zach Collins said. “If you push him off his spot, he’s comfortable shooting the shots. Nobody is going to block his jump shot, obviously. Last year, if he got pushed off, it was a tough fadeaway. Now, he seems solid.”
Wembanyama likely stashed some tricks up his sleeves over the summer, too. He spent time working with Crawford, who is regarded as one of the flashiest scorers in recent league history. We saw Wembanyama hit four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert with a “Shammgod” last season for a bucket.
Could Crawford’s patented “shake and bake” move be on the menu this season?
Wembanyama isn’t telling.
“It was my first time working for this long with a retired actual NBA player,” he said. “The view he has of the game is different from a coach.”
Their sessions consisted of ballhandling, sources said, as well as iso work, reads and finding creative ways for Wembanyama to get into his shot off the dribble.
Just more tools added to a seemingly bottomless bag.
“The difference with last year is it was my very first experience,” Wembanyama said. “I was running around doing a bunch of stuff. We’re going to be less loose on the youth errors, the youth mistakes. Coach gave me one year to figure out a little bit more about my game. But now, it’s time to be held to certain standards.”
Not even a week into training camp, Wembanyama had already left Paul shaking his head in disbelief. It had been nearly an hour since one particular play during a practice run left Paul in awe.
He’d watched Wembanyama gather a pass in transition a couple of feet behind the 3-point line, only to take a step with one foot, while the other never came back down to the floor.
“Oh, s—!” Paul said.
Wembanyama had just drilled a running one-legged 3-pointer, almost Dirk Nowitzki style.
Barnes had guarded Wembanyama on the play, and jokingly tossed up his hands in disgust when describing it.
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do that,” Barnes said. “He hasn’t missed it yet.”