Victor Wembanyama put up 13 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks against LeBron James and the Lakers on Friday.
Stay up to date on No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama during his rookie campaign with the San Antonio Spurs. A new Wemby Watch drops every Sunday during the season. Here’s what we saw this week.
Spreading holiday cheer 🎄
The world’s tallest Santa Claus surprised local children and families Thursday with Christmas presents, Spurs tickets and holiday cheer as Wembanyama and teammate Julian Champagnie – dressed as an elf – made door-to-door deliveries on the west side of San Antonio.
Tis the Season for giving 🎅🎁
Dressed as Santa and his elf, @wemby and @JulianChampagn2 spread some holiday cheer for the @elflouiseCP delivery! pic.twitter.com/077npjiXAs
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 15, 2023
The surprise visits came as a result of the team’s partnership with the Elf Louise Christmas project, which is dedicated to providing joy to the local area’s underserved children.
“It was very fun, especially seeing how grateful and how happy the little kids are,” Wembanyama said. “That really just takes us five minutes here and there. We go to the house for five minutes, [then] to another one. It’s just great activity, and it’s giving back.”
Wemby and Champagnie would later attend a team dinner at a local Italian restaurant.
The rookie credited the “good team bonding” at that dinner for helping San Antonio break out of a franchise-record 18-game losing streak on Friday.
Welcome to the League moment 🤷♂️
Two of the most-anticipated No. 1 picks in NBA history clashed Friday with Wembanyama and LeBron James matching up for the first time. As expected, the veteran took the rookie to school.
Standing in the corner late in the second quarter, LeBron splashed a stepback 23-footer over the outstretched reach of 7-foot-4 Wembanyama.
The veteran superstar wisely set up the rookie with one quick dribble.
“I was trying to create a little more room and shoot a little higher,” James said.
The play served as just one of the lessons Wembanyama learned in a week that San Antonio finally broke through with a victory after 43 days of languishing in futility.
Lakers center Anthony Davis offered some solid advice for the rookie ahead of their first clash, which was on Wednesday. AD left impressed with Wembanyama after the centers battled back and forth for a combined 67 points and 23 rebounds in Los Angeles’ 122-119 win.
1-man highlight reel 🤯
The rookie unleashed arguably the best dunk of his career this week against the Rockets. Don’t believe us? Watch till the end and decide for yourself.
Victor Wembanyama shows off limitless range with some emphatic slams, high-flying swats and more during Week 8 of the 2023-24 NBA season.
In the news 🗞️
The No. 1 pick reclaimed his top spot in colleague Steve Aschburner’s latest Kia Rookie Ladder.
Strengthening a 7-foot frame 🏋️
Victor Wembanyama appeared to roll his ankle on this play… Until he popped right back up like nothing happened!
What are Wemby’s ankles made of? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/hDY0ct4Raz
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 12, 2023
Rubber bones?
Wembanyama appeared to roll an ankle Monday at Houston while attempting to save the ball from flying out of bounds. It’s often catastrophic when a superstar hits the deck. But in this case, Wemby popped up with ease.
That’s a credit to the 19-year-old’s extensive pre and post-game stretching regimen.
“He is pretty flexible, I guess,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “It didn’t look great. He does some stretches. He makes [former Spur] Manu [Ginobili] look like a half-stepper.”
If you missed the joke here, Ginobili gained a reputation throughout 16 years in the NBA for utilizing unconventional routines and diets to gain an edge on the competition. It’s clear the outside-the-box approach worked. Ginobili, after all, is a 2022 Hall of Fame inductee.
(HOF) French connection 🇫🇷
The kid from France isn’t shy about leaning on the resources available, especially when he’s got arguably the greatest French basketball player in history right in his backyard in San Antonio.
Tony Parker played 17 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Spurs, winning four titles while earning designation as the first European to win an NBA Finals MVP in 2007. He’ll be in the house Sunday when the team hosts the Pelicans (3:30 ET, League Pass) in the “Tony Parker Hall of Fame Game” at Frost Bank Center.
“He’s given me a few [pieces of] advice,” Wembanyama said of Parker. “Always very smart, and off the court, he’s a very tranquil, good person. He knows his basketball culture is just all the way up there. It’s somebody that is always good to hear from.”
The organization will celebrate the 2023 Hall of Fame inductee at the game, and fans will receive a commemorative Parker T-shirt. The point guard also plans to address the crowd during a halftime ceremony that includes a re-raising of his retired No. 9 jersey to the rafters.
Lights, camera, action 🎥
Local grocery store chain H-E-B debuted two new commercials featuring Wembanyama and Spurs teammates, coincidentally, on the same night the club played its eighth nationally televised contest.
H-E-B released 15-second and 30-second spots Wednesday, and both played on the scoreboard video screen at Frost Bank Center during breaks in play.
The first, shorter ad features Wembanyama showing off his 8-foot wingspan while putting away a load of groceries. The rookie walks into a kitchen with five bags of groceries dangling off each outstretched arm as the caption “Team One Trip” flashes onto the screen.
Another commercial shows Wembanyama and co-stars Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell marveling at Jeremy Sochan’s ability to complete virtually every task one-handed. The ad humorously plays off Sochan’s unconventional one-handed free-throw shooting.
“People are excited about it, right?” Wembanyama said. “I’m excited for all of them to come out. I think it’s important in the history of the Spurs to do these commercials. It’s a chance that we can give a little bit of [our] personalities like this to go in public.”
* * *
Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
Michaela Gilmer is a producer for NBA.com.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
