JJ Redick Sings Victor Wembanyama’s Praise Despite Lakers’ Blowout Loss To Spurs

Victor Wembanyama was on a whole different level on Tuesday, during the San Antonio Spurs’ blowout victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The purple and gold simply had no answer to his dominance.

So how good was Wembanyama? He scored 25 points in the first quarter alone. He ended the half with 37 and the evening with 40 points to his name. And Wemby did all that in just 26 minutes on the court.

The Lakers did not have LeBron James, Luka Doncic, or Austin Reaves. So the loss was always on the cards. But a 28-point defeat. Well, Wemby made the difference, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick could only praise the out-of-this-world Frenchman.

Tuesday’s performance was another proof of Wembanyama’s generational talent, and that was duly acknowledged by Redick after the game. “He’s one of the five best players in the world. He’s put that stamp on himself,” stated Redick.

“To me, it’s more than the counting stats with him. There’s such an avoidance of him defensively, and there’s an awareness that you have to have from him defensively… He’s the center of that [San Antonio’s defense]. He impacts the game in ways that don’t show up in a box score,” added the Lakers coach.

Placing Wemby in the top five is a huge honor on its own. Of course, Redick can’t call him the best, considering he coaches Luka Doncic, a player who is considered by many to be the best. Then there’s Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Is there anyone else who can be placed ahead of Wembanyama on that list at the moment? Not really.

This season will also mark Wembanyama’s first All-Star appearance as a starter. And Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson could not help but highlight his progress as a player. “I think it just shows that Victor’s excellence is continuing to grow,” he said before the Lakers game.

“It’s just another milestone that he’s hit of probably many moving forward and a few that he’s already accomplished, and I think he’s very deserving,” added Johnson.

It seems all Wembanyama has to do to achieve immortality in NBA folklore is stay healthy. He clearly possesses the right tools to one day be called the undisputed best.