Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Underwhelmed by NBA Competition

There were some growing pains, and the lack of a traditional point guard didn't help matters, but in his first season with the San Antonio Spurs, things looked easy for Victor Wembanyama. He turned 20 in January of his rookie season and likely doesn't remember watching the NBA without stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Still, he had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time.

He averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.6 blocks. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, during his MVP-winning 1975-76 season has matched those numbers.

Wembanyama's dominance of the league was immediate, and he followed up his rookie campaign with a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Wembanyama does not think the NBA is difficult, and matching up against his childhood stars has largely been disappointing.

"Some of them are really impressive," said Wembanyama of his NBA competition. "But others, that I used to like, I'm not sure that they put in as much work as I thought."

He refused to mention names or call anyone out, but Kevin Durant and Rudy Gobert seem to be the two players he has the most respect for.

"There are active players that I admire," he explained. "Some of the guys I admired growing up, I'm not disappointed, but I'm like, 'That's it?' But some of them, talking like KD...it's really inspiring, I want to do the same as them."

Durant is one of the best offensive players of all time, and Wembanyama is already one of the best defenders in the world. If he can combine his already-elite defensive skills with offense even half as good as Durant's, there's no telling what his ceiling is.

Related: Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Joins All-Time Greats With Photoshoot

As Wembanyama enters his second NBA season, his fearlessness will likely be a defining trait of the Spurs' success.