Despite getting posterized, Wembanyama remains a defensive force at the rim

The rookie’s stats at the rim highlight his defensive dominance.

This past week hasn’t been the most memorable one for rookie Victor Wembanyama. It began last Tuesday when Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun took it to the rookie, dropping 45 points on him. Then, the rookie was sidelined for the following two games due to an ankle injury before rejoining the team on Monday night against the Golden State Warriors. Despite putting up some very respectable numbers — 27 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal — most of the NBA world will remember this game because of one play.

Yes, 7’4” Victor Wembanyama was posterized by fellow 6’9” rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, and it went viral. It’s a rare sight to see Victor getting attacked and being on the receiving end of such aggression. Usually, the Frenchman is the one making highlights by blocking these kinds of attempts.

If you decide to slow down the frames to microanalyze this dunk, there is an argument that it may have been an offensive foul. In this clip, you can see the Warriors’ rookie pushing Wemby’s blocking arm out of the way. Either way, when asked about the play in his post-game conference, the Frenchman owned up to being on the receiving end of it.

He claimed that many players around the league are constantly attacking him at the rim in hopes of pulling off what Jackson-Davis did. The rookie went on to say that about 99% of the time, he can challenge a player’s shot without fouling, and he will keep doing so even if he gets dunked on sometimes. It’s part of the game, but more often than not, Wemby dunks on people more often than they dunk on him, so it’s a net positive for the team.

To support the rookie’s claim that he’s doing more good than bad by contesting players at the rim. He’s been able to affect 81.7% of the shots at the rim, ranking first since the 2013-14 season (the latest this stat was recorded by BBall Index). Overall, these kinds of posters won’t stop Wemby from becoming the best rim protector in the league for the next decade.

On a separate note, the rookie mentioned feeling great after Monday night’s game and expressed his intention to play in every remaining game this season – fantastic news for Spurs fans!

Unsurprisingly, Wemby has been leading the way for the Spurs and the rookies from around the league in many notable categories.

In his spare time, Victor has been known to spend hours at art galleries, expressing his admiration for art and drawing parallels between art and basketball. Recently, in an attempt to sign a jersey for legendary filmmaker and basketball superfan, Spike Lee, the rookie drew a comical portrait for Spike.

The San Antonio Spurs are gearing up to enhance the fan experience during their Spurs week in Austin. In a recent press release, it was announced that, with the help of AI, fans attending these games are in for a unique glimpse of what the future of basketball fan experience might hold.