Victor Wembanyama does unprecedented or seldom-seen issues in league historical past repeatedly. The large man got here into the NBA with large hype and has exceeded expectations. It’s more durable and more durable to be stunned by what he accomplishes as a result of he has made excellence unusual.
Nevertheless, one mark he reached on Dec. 15 is a bit surprising. Wemby reached 2,000 factors in simply 92 video games, turning into the third participant underneath 21 to get there the quickest in league historical past, with solely Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson beating him to it, based on Spurs PR and must-follow Jordan Howenstine:
Victor Wembanyama simply reached 2,000 profession factors.
Solely two gamers in NBA historical past underneath 21 years previous to succeed in 2K sooner – Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic.
— Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan) December 16, 2024
There’s rather a lot to unpack right here. First, Zion is an absolute beast when he’s wholesome, which makes the truth that he not often is such a bummer. The person scored 27 factors per recreation in his second season on 61 p.c taking pictures. The league is lacking out on a singular expertise. Second, it’s surprising to see massive names from the highschool to the league period not on the listing. It used to take some time for guys to get the touches to place up massive numbers. Tracy McGrady, Amar’e Stoudamire, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant weren’t handed the reins out of the gate. One-and-done guys like Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant did put up massive numbers as rookies nevertheless it took them just a few extra video games than Wemby to get there.
Whatever the context and the skinny margins that created it, the slightly arbitrary milestone is spectacular as a result of scoring will not be Wemby’s greatest ability. Coming into the league, the forecast was that he’d make a much bigger impression on the defensive finish in his first couple of years, and it was appropriate. Wembanyama was one of many prime three defenders within the NBA as a rookie and is the consensus prime participant on that finish as a sophomore. To date, he’s placing up historic numbers for a participant his age in blocks and rebounds. Luka Doncic is a famous person, however he makes his mark on one finish of the ground. Wemby is a prodigy at each stopping buckets and getting them, not less than going by the numbers.
There have been numerous discussions about how Victor will get his factors, and nobody ought to evaluate him to offensive engines like Doncic or unstoppable forces like Zion. Not but, not less than. However a mark like this one, mixed together with his effectivity, ought to put a cease to any severe concern about Wembanyama’s future as a scorer. Whilst he’s discovering his manner as a centerpiece, he’s logging historic numbers.
