All eyes were on the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night for the NBA debut of Victory Wembanayama. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft was taking the court for his first regular season game against the Dallas Mavericks to much fanfare. There hasn’t been a prospect hyped up as much as him since LeBron James took the court with the Cleveland Cavaliers following the 2003 NBA Draft.
It was an up-and-down performance by the young phenom, who made his presence felt right away. Defending his man in the corner, he was able to use his length to block a Kyrie Irving jump shot at the elbow. There are going to be a lot of surprised opponents when their shots are blocked out of nowhere.
Offensively, he got the crowd going with an early 3-pointer, but his night was subdued for the majority of it because of foul trouble. But, he did provide a glimpse of just how dominant he can be with an impressive stretch in the fourth quarter.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs Updates
After picking up his fifth foul early in the final quarter, he checked back into the game with 7:12 remaining. On the Spurs’ first possession, he caught a lob pass from Devin Vassell for an alley-oop, the first two of nine points he would score in the final frame.
That push ultimately wasn’t enough to help his team get the win as San Antonio fell to Dallas 126-119. Despite coming up short and being on the bench more than anticipated, Wembanyama still drew praise from head coach Gregg Popovich.
“One of the toughest things for a player is to get into foul trouble,” Popovich said. “You never get into a rhythm, you’re in and out of the game and that sort of thing. I thought his maturity showed, even at a young age, where he came in with the last seven minutes and just played.
“We ran some stuff for him, he executed where a lot of guys would have been totally out of it by then because, as you said, were in foul trouble and didn’t get the rhythm. I thought he had a wonderful outing considering that.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs Updates
In total, Wembanyama played 23 minutes, scoring 15 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. He was efficient offensively, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, but he did miss his only free throw of the game.
The only negatives to his performance were the five fouls and he turned the ball over five times. But, some growing pains are expected from the 19-year-old who is projected by many to bring the Spurs back to relevancy. In an eerie coincidence, he finished with an identical stat line to Tim Duncan in his Spurs debut, as he also shot 6-of-9 for 15 points with five rebounds.
Want the latest NBA analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click Here. Follow NBA Analysis Network on Twitter and Facebook.
Interested in reading the latest storylines and analysis in the NFL? Check out our partner NFL Analysis Network.
