SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama isn’t thinking small. At 7-foot-4, pushing his limits is just the starting point. While most people already label him the best defender on the planet, the San Antonio Spurs star wants much more than just a wall on defense.
During the final week of his fourth preseason, the NBA’s annual general manager survey dropped, showing tons of confidence in the league’s newest superstar. But Wembanyama doesn’t care about the outside noise. He’s focused on the grind.
“I’ve got a lot of growth to do in that aspect,” Wembanyama recently admitted. “And I’m saying this because I have coaches that hold me to a very high standard.”
The roadmap for his third season to fourth is simple on paper: win an NBA championship and take home the MVP trophy. He fell short of both last year, finishing second in the MVP voting and losing in the Western Conference Finals. But growth isn’t a straight line. A more complete player can still lose a Game 7 and head into the offseason feeling sharper.
Teammate Luke Kornet points to one key area for Wembanyama’s next leap: communication. “There’s a big responsibility of communication,” Kornet explained. “It’s one thing to know something’s happening and another to be able to vocalize it. The better you can communicate, you can get your whole team on the same page.”
Wembanyama’s first postseason was a brutal education in NBA physicality. By the end of the playoffs, his arms were covered in scars. Year 4 won’t make those wounds disappear, but it will give him the experience to handle them better. He also had to learn how teams scheme to neutralize him. Just being a massive disruptor wasn’t enough; he had to learn to read the game and anticipate the counters.
“The game’s always changing, but you definitely grow in terms of awareness,” Kornet added.
On defense, Wembanyama’s unique blend of length, mobility, and instincts lets coach Mitch Johnson run schemes most teams can only dream of. But Johnson is careful not to overcomplicate things. “I think we want to grow as many ways to win as we can without losing our identity and our base,” the coach noted.
Opposing teams have spent three seasons studying Wembanyama, looking for any crack to exploit. Kornet believes those challenges will only make him stronger. “Obviously, no matter how talented you are when you’re young, think about how much better you’re going to be with five more years of experience and understanding.”
But Wembanyama doesn’t have five years to wait. The Spurs expect to compete for a title right now, and their centerpiece is driving that mission. When asked about his ceiling, he made his mindset clear: “Now, the standard isn’t being the best on the planet anymore. It’s being better than last year.”
