Upon being drafted by the Spurs, Wemby was compared to TD and ‘The Admiral.’
Better shooter
Elliott, who’s also been doing commentary work for the Spurs, admitted that Wembanyama is a better shooter than Duncan and Robinson. This skill aligns very well with today’s era, where the best bigs no longer camp in the paint.
“I’ll be honest because Victor is a better shooter than those guys were. I bet Victor alone this year has more threes than those two have their whole careers combined,” Elliott said, per Hoops Hype, noting that Wemby is also a better ball handler than the two.
Stats show that Duncan knocked down 30 3-pointers in his entire career while Robinson had 25. Meanwhile, Wembanyama drained 128 long shots in his rookie season.
The Big Fundamental
However, Elliott believes that Duncan had mastery of fundamentals early on. Tim’s deft jump hook shot made him a reliable scorer in his first year in the NBA.
“But those guys, they came in, they were more polished and they knew how to play. They’re both four-year players. So, Timmy was fundamentally sound. Timmy had a sneaky athleticism that he didn’t get credit for. Tim Duncan came in his first couple of years, he had a little jump hook that was already extremely polished and high quality where people couldn’t stop him even as a rookie,” Elliott said.
As Spurs fans saw, Duncan’s hook and off-the-glass shot were the most lethal signature moves in the NBA. These two basic skills, coupled with the will to win, powered the Spurs to multiple NBA titles. Even when TD had left his prime, he was still a key contributor for Gregg Popovich’s team on both ends of the floor.
Wemby has more than two moves in his arsenal, which makes him different from Duncan. However, if Popovich is concerned, Victor shares several things in common with the ‘Big Fundamental,’ which effectively lines him up for greatness.
“He’s made me understand that he has those Tim Duncan qualities of innate basketball IQ and a fire that he wants to be the best,” Popovich said per The Athletic.
Scouts were right when they said Wemby is the next big thing. Victor’s life got a lot sweeter when he was drafted by the Spurs, an organization that turns great prospects into Hall of Famers.
