Victor Wembanyama is amassing blocks and steals, not fouls
MINNEAPOLIS — Either give John Collins credit for his chutzpah or flagellate him for his foolishness. A little more than two minutes into Sunday’s game against the Spurs, the Utah Jazz center had the bright idea to test Victor Wembanyama not once, but twice. At first, it appeared Wembanyama would record his first steal of the night as he used his long arm to poke Collins’ dribble away on a drive.
Collins recovered the ball and doubled down, attempting to scoot past Wembanyama to the basket. One could almost feel Wembanyama’s eyes roll from the Delta Center rafters — “you again?” — as he unfurled that same construction crane of a right arm to swat Collins’ layup attempt off the glass for his first block of the game instead. “In some small way, I respect it,” Spurs reserve Zach Collins said of teams who continue to challenge the league’s most prolific shot-blocking force. “Just to go at him even though you know it’s going to be a tough task.”
If teams are hoping to get Wembanyama in foul trouble by attacking him, it isn’t working.
Not only does the 7-foot-3 rookie lead the NBA in blocks per game (3.3), total blocks (171) and blocks plus steals (238), he does it while averaging a scant 2.1 fouls per game, tied for 129 th most in the league. It is a remarkable trait for a 20-year-old still learning the NBA, and one his veteran teammates have come to admire. “You can be tall and long, but you’ve got to have a feel too, when to go for blocks and when to go for steals,” Collins said. “He has that instinct already. It’s crazy to think he’s only a rookie.” Despite hands that are always seemingly around the ball, Wembanyama hasn’t been in foul in trouble in nearly a month. Entering Tuesday’s game against Minnesota at the Target Center, Wembanyama has not finished a night with more than three fouls since Jan. 22 against Philadelphia.
He has fouled out of only one game, a Dec. 13 defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers that he also ended with 30 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks and three steals. Wembanyama attributes his ability to disrupt offenses without putting himself at the mercy of an official’s whistle to a simple matter of DNA. “It’s just trusting my instincts,” Wembanyama said. “This is an area where I always trust my talent.” After Wembanyama’s first NBA game back in October, it was fair to wonder if it would take an adjustment period for him to learn to limit fouls in his new league. Wembanyama played well in the season-opener against Dallas — when he was on the floor. Almost immediate foul trouble limited him to 23 minutes, and he finished the night with five fouls.
Looking back, Wembanyama views his foul-plagued introduction to the NBA as nothing but a fluke. “It didn’t happen in the preseason, and it didn’t happen after (the opener),” Wembanyama said. “I’m not often in foul trouble.” Wembanyama’s ability to amass blocks and steals without amassing fouls has helped fuel his status as the NBA’s presumptive Rookie of the Year. There are those in league circles who wonder, not whether Wembanyama could one day break through and win the Defensive Player of the Year of the award, but how many times. Dikembe Mutomobo and Ben Wallace share the record for most career Defensive Player of the Year trophies with four apiece. It would not be surprising for Wembanyama to eventually shatter that mark. Collins believes Wembanyama should be this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, a feat no rookie has ever accomplished. “I’m sure they won’t give him every single award, but he should be (DPOY),” Collins said. “He’s doing things I’ve never seen before.” It is worth asking the question: How can the Spurs own a defense that ranks in the bottom third of the NBA, despite the presence of a human pogo stick-slashwrecking ball at the center of it?
The answer is simple: Because Wembanyama cannot play 48 minutes a night. “The impact he has on the game is huge,” guard Devin Vassell said. “There’s times where you’ll look and (other teams) are reluctant to go into the paint. They’ll turn back around because they see him there.” Then there are teams and players that don’t get the memo to U-turn until it is too late. In a Feb. 12 victory at Toronto, Wembanyama recorded a 10-block triple double the Raptors seemed bound and determined to gift wrap for him. Watching tape of that game to prepare for his team’s meeting with Wembanyama a few days later, Dallas coach Jason Kidd could only chuckle. “Nothing against Toronto,” Kidd said, “but I think they forgot he’s 7-5.” The Jazz joined that list of forgetful opponents Sunday, when they victimized by three Wembanyama blocks in the first quarter of a game Utah ultimately won by 19. Wembanyama finished with five blocks for the third consecutive contest. “We talk about it on the bench when it happens,” Collins said of teams recklessly testing Wembanyama. “Usually it’s teams we haven’t played yet or haven’t played in a while.” Back in training camp, the Spurs were one of them.
In those early scrimmages against the new rookie, Spurs players had to adjust to the new abnormal of playing against a shot-blocking, dribble-stealing alien. “We even went through it in the preseason,” Collins said. “It’s like, ‘Alright it’s a little different when you’re out there with him.’ ” As teams continue to try Wembanyama with a combination of chutzpah and foolishness, the blocks and steals will add up. The fouls probably will not.
That math is likely to one day equal one of the best defensive careers of all-time. “At the end of his career, when he’s built his resume, his numbers are going to be insane,” Collins said. “He’s already out to a good start.”