Follow Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 pick, throughout his rookie season. Each Sunday throughout the season, a new Wemby Watch is released. Here’s what we noticed this week:
All-Star Weekend is approaching ⭐️.
Wembanyama will compete in the 2024 Kia Skills Challenge on State Farm All-Star Saturday Night alongside fellow No. 1 overall picks Paolo Banchero of the Magic and Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves. Team Top Picks will face off against Team Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton, Benedict Mathurin, Myles Turner) and Team All-Stars (Scottie Barnes, Tyrese Maxey, Trae Young) in the first event of the night.
Before that, Wembanyama will compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars on Friday night (9 ET, TNT). Pau Gasol, an NBA veteran and honorary coach, selected Wembanyama first overall in the Rising Stars Draft last Tuesday.
Pau Gasol takes Victor Wembanyama to open the #PaniniRisingStars Draft! https://t.co/WsV9iisz4G pic.twitter.com/h1CnI6E02P
— NBA (@NBA) February 6, 2024
On the court 🏀
Wembanyama returned to Barclays Center for the first time since the Spurs selected him first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft in June. He scored 21 points and pulled down four rebounds after only one on Thursday in Orlando.
The Spurs are three games into a nine-game Rodeo Road Trip. They will make stops in Toronto and Dallas this week before the All-Star break, which begins next weekend.
Strengthening a 7-foot frame. 🏋️♂️
Keep in mind that he is only 20 years old, so Wembayama understands the changes he must make to his game before he can truly adjust to life in the NBA. The French superstar, who stands 7-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, hopes to bulk up to NBA size. But he wants to do things the correct way.
Knowing he needs to gain muscle, Wembanyama faces a difficult decision between achieving optimal weight gain and increasing strength. While he wants the muscle, he also recognizes that it is in his best interests to approach the project in a way that will maximize his long-term job chances.
That has contributed to Wembayama’s ongoing improvement of his shot.
“Throughout my career, my body’s been changing so much that sometimes I’ve had ups and downs with my shot,” he said. “But when you play so frequently, it forces me to practice in-game shots.” So, yeah, I’m becoming more confident and comfortable. It’s also superior than installation.”
Wembanyana scored 20 points for the first time in February on Saturday in a 123-103 loss to Brooklyn.
“When I stopped growing a few years ago, I started getting stronger and wider,” Wembanyana explained of his continued development. “And I have been lifting a lot. Perhaps as much as I play basketball. So it’s always been something I’ve tried to balance: all this rhythm and heavy lifting during the season. It’s ongoing work.”
He also stated that it is still underway.
“During the NBA season, we don’t lift as much as we would do in the offseason or as I would do before,” he went on to say. “So it’s easy to hold that shot. Everyone’s body changes, including 5-foot-10 guards. It’s a little difficult when you’re young and tall.
One-man highlight reel. 🤯
Despite a rather slow week, the French superstar nonetheless delivered a number of must-see plays. Take a peek.
Check out some of Victor Wembanyama’s standout performances from Week 16 of his rookie season.
On the road ✈️.
Wemby and the Spurs blessed some children at Hebrew Academy High in Miami Beach Wednesday by having a shootaround on the team’s home court prior to San Antonio’s game versus the Heat. Coach Gregg Popovich closed the discussion with the players by asking and answering questions.
Really cool of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich today. The team holding shoot-around at Hebrew Academy HS in Miami Beach. Kids from varsity basketball team lined up to see Victor Wembanyama. Pop let them in to watch and even spoke to them and took pics. pic.twitter.com/lGFq25waR7
— Will Manso (@WillManso) February 7, 2024
“No one planned anything. It was organic. “It just happened,” the coach explained. “That’s what makes it enjoyable. We just went there to shoot around like normal, saying hello to the coaches and everything. There were some children peeking their heads through the doors and everything. So we simply responded, ‘Why don’t you just bring them in? Everyone had a blast.”
Wembanyama agreed.
“Anytime we can make some kids happy by letting them into practice, it costs us nothing and it makes their day, possibly their week, or their month,” Wembanyama went on to say. “So, small gestures like that [are] always fun for us.”
