At this point, if Victor Wembanyama is playing, you might as well open the Statead tab, because there’s a good chance you’ll be checking some sort of historical stat line at the end of the game.
It happened again on Saturday, when Wembanyama became the sixth player in history — and notably the youngest — to record 30 points and 10 blocks in a game, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (5 times) David Robinson (3 times) Artis Gilmore, Dwight Howard and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Take a look at Wembanyama’s final line in San Antonio’s 114-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers: 30 points, 10 blocks, seven rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes. The guy blocked a shot every three minutes he was on the court!
Wembanyama also made four of his eight 3-pointers, making him the first player in history to block 10 shots and make four 3s in the same game. This combination of rim protection and shooting is unprecedented.
I mean seriously, the guy has had half of the league’s four 10-block games since 2019 (thanks Clint Capela and Hassan Whiteside) and, according to Spurs PRalso reached 200 career 3-pointers faster than Stephen Curry, James Harden and Ray Allen – the three most prolific 3-point shooters of all time.
Yes, it’s a sign of the modern game. Curry and Harden, and especially Allen, entered the league when 3-point shooting was still a small part of an acceptable shooting regimen, and Wemby is nowhere near a shooter of all time. Hell, he’s not even an average player if you just look at his percentages so far.
Still, it’s crazy to consider that a player of that size can shoot like that.
Back to blocks: Wemby has now recorded at least one block in 62 consecutive games, putting him ahead of David Robinson for the Spurs franchise record. Over his last two games, Wembanyama recorded 72 points, 14 blocks and 11 3-pointers.
More importantly, the Spurs win. They are now 15-13, having won four of their last five games. If the season ended today, the Spurs would make the Play-In Tournament and Wembanyama would be a virtual lock for All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year. By the way, he’s 20 years old.
