Victor Wembanyama might just be a rookie, but the NBA world has never seen a player quite like him. Listed at 7ft 4”, the San Antonio Spurs center can dribble, shoot, pass, rebound, and defend equally well. As if he wasn’t already unguardable to some extent, Tracy McGrady revealed the one move the Wemby could add to his arsenal that would make him unstoppable.
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Tracy McGrady took to Instagram and revealed that he would give Victor Wembanyama Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook to add to his arsenal. By adding the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s patented move to his skillset, no defender in the NBA would be successful in preventing Wemby from going on a scoring outburst, per McGrady.
Apart from the French phenom’s release point being at 9 feet, due to his incredible vision, he will also be able to find the open man once double-teamed.
“Kareem’s skyhook. Why not? It’s unstoppable. He’s 7ft 5”, unstoppable shot. He has passing ability, so if you wanna come double… There’s nothing you could do about that. The wingspan?! Like his release point, that sh*t is gonna be 9 foot. You can’t get that,” McGrady explained.
Victor Wembanyama, who studies a lot of films of past players, always knew that the skyhook would benefit him. Even before McGrady’s opinions, way before the 2023-2024 season commenced, Wembanyama admitted that working on improving his skyhook. The European prodigy was well aware of the fact that once he masters the move, it can be a lethal weapon one day.
“I’ve been working a little bit on my skyhook, you know, the Kareem skyhook. And hopefully, one day, it can be a weapon to add,” Wembanyama said.
So far in his rookie season, Wembanyama hasn’t used the move as abundantly as he’d been expected to. However, no defender has been able to contest the shot whenever he’s attempted it.
Victor Wembanyama prepared for the NBA by improving his strength
Victor Wembanyama is one of the most disciplined players in the NBA. He’s constantly in the gym, in search of new ways to improve different aspects of his game.
Even in the 2023 summer, when he was expected to take time off, Wemby was working with the strength and conditioning coach – Guillaume Alquier – of his Metropolitans 92 team from France. Alquier revealed that to prepare for the NBA, the then-teenager was adding muscle mass. By “adding weight normally”, Wembanyama would be able to have strength in his legs that will help improve his presence in the paint.
“He’s adding some weight normally, but not 10 pounds, or 20 pounds every month… The most important thing is to have strength in the legs, to produce force to play basketball: To play inside, to play D, post up, everything. After that, you have core activation, and the last thing is the prevention stuff—trying to do the best thing to be healthy all the time during the season,” Alquier told ESPN’s Jeremy Woo.
Victor’s hard work paid off. Focusing on adding weight to improve on the defensive end, Wemby has managed to become one of the best defenders in the league, averaging 3.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, per NBA.com. Additionally, lodging 20.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in merely 29 minutes per game, the San Antonio Spurs youngster is certainly the frontrunner to win the 2024 Rookie of the Year award.
