Victor Wembanyama nutmeg’d defender in transition like a tiny guard
It’s already established that San Antonio Spurs super rookie Victor Wembanyama is doing things the NBA has never seen before during his first preseason run in the league. This is apparently going to be the case every game.
On Wednesday night, Wembanyama and the Spurs took on the Houston Rockets, and even during a rough shooting night, the rookie superstar had some wild moments. Wemby shot only 3-of-10 from the field to finish with 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks in 21 minutes. He also made the type of open floor dribble move no one with his size has ever pulled off.
As Wembanyama pushed the ball in transition, he put the ball through the legs of Houston defender Reggie Bullock to get to the basket and set his teammate up for a bucket. A true nutmeg from a 7’5 guy. What in the world!
Yes, the NBA has seen nutmegs before, but it’s usually from guards like Trae Young and James Harden, as my former colleague, the great Zito Madu, once chronicled. Bullock, who has been a wonderful defender throughout his career, got got in a viral moment by a rookie. Zito has some advice for him, should Bullock choose to take it.
There are smaller moments from Wemby that are arguably even more impressive. How about a 7’5 guy (he measured 7’4 barefoot in France) fighting over a screen?
Keeping an eye on screen navigation with Wemby but…You’re getting a dribble handoff and here is 7’3 trailing, fighting over and then getting back in front. pic.twitter.com/jvHxmlOFoE
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 19, 2023
How about the amount of space he gets up as a weakside defender? Or making a no-look pass falling out of bounds to a corner shooter?
Wembanayama is going to be so much fun to watch. We can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
