On the recently updated KIA MVP Ladder, Victor Wembanyama became part of the top five contenders for the honor. He surpassed the likes of Luka Doncic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Donovan Mitchell with 25.6 ppg, 10 rpg, and 3.9 bpg averages. Wemby has been brilliant from the moment he joined the league, but over the last summer, he has elevated his game to another level.
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During a recent conversation on the Real Ones podcast, Jamal Crawford talked about the progress the 21-year-old has made. Crawford has played a massive role in Wemby’s development as he has been training the Spurs star after the latter’s team reached out to him.
“At the time, Wemby had a tendency, when he set the pick and roll, he rolled and he’d stay down there. Pop [Gregg Popovich] was like, ‘No, I want him to start hunting shots a little more,’” Crawford said, as an example of the kind of things he worked on with Wemby. The former NBA star stated that he was aware of people expressing their doubts regarding a guard coaching a center.
The key in this scenario was that Crawford focused heavily on footwork as it has the same effectiveness on all players, regardless of their position. What impressed him the most was how quickly Wemby was picking up on every lesson. Crawford said, “Stuff that took me years to learn, he can do it and download it in five minutes. It was incredible.”
Having been around Wemby and trained with him, Crawford believes that the 21-year-old has potential like no other player he has ever seen. He said that despite being over two decades younger than him, Wemby displayed the wisdom of a 50-year-old. As an example of his dedication to the game and what makes him so wise, Crawford revealed that Wemby read 50 books just last year.
Crawford added, “If he stays healthy, he will be one of the five best players ever.” He reiterated one of his comments on Wemby which shows the kind of faith he has in the youngster.
He said, “If LeBron [James] and Kevin Durant were playing video games and we say they’re creative players, they would create somebody like Wemby.” A 7’3 center who can shoot and make threes with ease, can run as fast as anyone on the floor, and has the ability to block everything in his sight, does sound like a fantasy player.
When asked if he feels proud seeing Wemby implement his lessons in games, Crawford said, “Absolutely.” The 44-year-old recalled seeing Wemby executing one of his moves in the Olympics and was blown by his ability to retain those lessons even in the most stressful times on the floor.
