Victor Wembanyama had a phenomenal rookie season for the San Antonio Spurs. The 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year not only lived up to the hype but even exceeded expectations with his spectacular play. Heading to his second year in the association, many predict Wemby will have an even more dominant season with a year of league experience under his belt.
According to Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson , Wembanyama could be more dominant if he developed a low-post game. During last week's 12th annual Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic, the former Houston Rockets great talked about the San Antonio Spurs phenom.
"Wembanyama's a different player at a different time of basketball," said Sampson. "He's got great skills. He's got great work ethic with what you can tell, but he don't have to play the post, and if he did it'd be a different ball game."
Sampson was Wemby 40 years ago
If there was any former player who could speak with authority about the Frenchman, it is Sampson. He was the Wemby before Victor, and when we say this, we mean it literally. Not only was he a towering player who did not play like the traditional big man, but he was also 7'4" and the No.1 overall pick of his draft class.
Like Wemby, Ralph had excellent handles, passing skills, shot-blocking ability, and the outside shot. Sampson also didn't have a post-game, and not that he needed one, but he could have been a more complete and dominant force if he had one. And he thinks Frenchmen could be, too, especially with today's dearth of bigs who play tough post-defense.
"There's not big guys who can play against him," added Sampson. "He's playing against little people, so the game is totally different. We had to play against guys here like Terry Cummings, A.C. Green, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Artis Gilmore, you got real men that will beat your a** in the post. So you can run up and down the court and try to beat them, or you have had to play the post and you had to match their game in the post because they wouldn't let you shoot at them, right?"
Related: Lawrence Taylor recalls Michael Jordan begging for foul calls during their UNC scrimmages: "I just hit you a little bit, come on, man"
Raph is not the first to say this about young Spur
Well, Sampson isn't the only former NBA player who thinks Wemby should develop a slot game. Former New Jersey Nets star forward Kenyon Martin also said that Victor should work on playing in the post instead of training with Jamal Crawford.
"He's 7'5 "; why he need that?" asked Martin on Gil's Arena. "Get you a** on the block. That extends your game. Get you big a** on the block. Go work with Tim Duncan. How about that? Daily, more. I just…. he's 7'5". Who he going by? There's a lot of people he could've went to seek knowledge from at this point and get to Jamal Crawford. Let's learn that bank shot. Let's learn to face a motherfu**** up and shoot this thing off the glass consistently."
Given his versatile skillset, we didn't see Wemby's need to post up his opponents last season, and he may not need it again next campaign. However, if he does grow a back-to-the-basket game, he'll be more difficult to stop. As Sampson said, that would be a game-changer.
Related: "I don't really think you can be dominant when you shoot jumpers a lot" - Shaq gets real on why Wemby will never be a dominant player
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