Victor Wembanyama had a season opener for the ages last night. The 21-year-old Frenchman finished with 40 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. His 71.6% shooting from the field was what really caught fans’ eyes as he also drained 9-11 free throws in the Spurs’ 125-92 victory over the Mavericks.
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It was the type of performance that should strike fear into the rest of the league. The Spurs superstar missed a good portion of last season due to a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. He made sure to let the Mavs, especially Anthony Davis, know that he was 100% back.
One person that Wemby really impressed was Kendrick Perkins. KP spoke about Wemby’s dominant opening night performance on the latest edition of the Road Trippin podcast. Perk reminded listeners that this was a man who always found success thanks to hard work.
“Where did this come from? Hard work. It came from he showed you who he was since he stepped foot in the league,” he stated. KP then joked that he got his mental game right during his injury by working with the monks and seeking advice from NBA legends like Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett.
“All of a sudden you see him down there with the monks. He’s working on his mentality and his focus and him being f****** mean. He’s already a mean mother f*****, but then he went and enhanced it by 10.”
“Then you see him working with Olajuwon, so now we see the footwork coming into place on the low block. We see the spin moves. We see the spin moves with the one-legged bank shots. Then he went and talked with KG? His whole mindset was just different.”
Perk later made a pitch that Wemby is the spawn of two of the game’s most dominant scorers. The Diesel, and Kevin Durant. “There were times when I was watching that game that I saw a combination of Shaq and KD. If Shaq and KD had a baby you would get Wemby.”
This must mean quite a bit to Victor given that Durant is his favorite player. “He became my favorite player. I made it clear to him that I wanted to learn from him and perhaps steal one or two of his secret techniques,” he said.
There is a particular sequence from the Spurs/Mavs game that made Perkins salivate over how great Wemby played. “That sequence where he volley ball spiked Dereck Lively’s s***. Came down, sham guard, put him in the mixer, four point-play. That’s the finesse.”
“Then he comes back into the game, he little boys AD. Every time he dunked the ball it was like he was saying, ‘Young fella.'”
If this is how Wemby’s season starts, the league better buckle up. The dude looked like a cheat code. Part Shaq, part KD, all alien. You could just feel that mix of swagger and precision that only true greats have.
If his body holds up and that mindset Perk was raving about keeps building, we might be watching the birth of a new era in real time.
