Victor Wembanyama’s third year in the NBA was the moment he truly arrived as a superstar, carrying the San Antonio Spurs all the way to the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. Along the way, he absolutely slashed his turnovers to a mere 2.4 per game, way down from his 3.1 career average, and just completely dominated at the rim. This kid is unreal, but getting to this point wasn’t easy, not by a long shot.
Wemby’s Early Struggles: Doing Too Much Alone
Think back to his first two years. This 7-foot-5 unicorn’s biggest problem was ball security. He relied way too much on outside jumpers, launching an absurd 8.8 three-pointers a game in his second season. You could see it happening: whenever opposing defenses crowded him, the turnovers just piled up because he didn’t have any real offensive help. It was a tough watch sometimes, forcing him to do everything himself. Even Wemby joked about it during his rookie year after a massive 10-block game that somehow came with seven turnovers. He straight up told reporters, “I almost got a quintuple-double with turnovers too.” Can you imagine?
San Antonio’s Roster Rebuild Unleashed the Monster
But man, that style shifted completely. It was all because of the roster San Antonio built around him. The midseason arrival of De’Aaron Fox, paired with the insane growth of 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and rookie guard Dylan Harper, gave Wemby real driving threats to play with for the first time. Finally, some help! Castle became his direct pipeline to the rim, setting up more than half of Wembanyama’s 89 alley-oops last season. With Fox, Castle, and Harper breaking down defenses off the dribble, Wemby’s three-point attempts dropped from 8.8 per game to 5.5. His offense shifted back toward the paint, where he averaged 6.0 field goal attempts at the rim per game, converting them at an elite 75.1% clip. That efficiency makes him a straight-up matchup nightmare for anyone daring to guard him. Giving a 7-foot-5 player the ball near the rim sounds simple, but it took two years of roster rebuilding to make it happen. Ultimately, adding better teammates fixed what coaching alone could not.
A Playoff Statement That Rewrote History
The biggest payoff came in the postseason. You saw it in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Wembanyama completely dominated the paint. Instead of settling for outside jumpers, he aggressively attacked the glass and put back missed shots. He carried San Antonio to a 122-115 double-overtime victory over Oklahoma City, finishing with a massive 41 points and 24 rebounds. At just 22 years old, he became the youngest player in NBA history to post a 40-20 stat line in the playoffs. That wasn’t just a highlight; it was clear evidence of a superstar playing off his teammates rather than trying to do everything on his own.
This wasn’t just a good season; this was the arrival of something truly special. With a roster finally built to maximize his insane talent, what Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs do next is going to be appointment television. Get ready, because the league just got a new boogeyman, and he’s just getting started.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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