Nikola Jokić on Victor Wembanyama: “He has the opportunity to be the most unique basketball player we’ve ever seen. He definitely has the opportunity to be the best ever.”
“…but today is not that day”
“if you see me I’m a fight with a bear, prey for the bear”
Prey for the bear and pray for the bear have unintentionally hilarious opposite meanings.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a typo where the typo ended up being the correct version. Not sure even the likes of Shaq or that man mountain guy would last five seconds in an actual fight with a bear lol
Not sure even the likes of Shaq or that man mountain guy would last five seconds in an actual fight with a bear
What about a 5-foot-nothing, 90 pound Canadian woman in a fight against a polar bear?
https://www.espn.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=2338668
Spoken in true Serbian english
DANGER!!
That would have been savage
Jokic accidentally cosplaying Aragorn at the Black Gate. Wemby’s “that day” is probably like 2027 anyway.
Jokic is a Gentleman. And the quickest out of press rooms
He must check on his horses
This is the most I’ve heard Jokic talk ever
You gotta watch this podcast he does with this Serbian media guy, I think it’s called Xs and Os Chat or something? Absolutely fascinating to hear Jokic talk as much as he does, and it seems like he’s comfortable both talking in his own language and with someone from home. You can tell he’s genuinely passionate about basketball and the skill level in the league overall
His Serbian interviews seem so much more engaged. I always bring up that Modern Family scene where Sophia Vergara goes off about how none of them know how funny she is. Because she can’t express herself fully in English to them.
International superstars kinda have that problem. Dirk Nowitzki seemed like a totally different guy once he learned English really well. Professing his love for Lil Kim and Foxy Brown lmao
Safe to say dirk has a type
Pretty solid type, as types go.
He also did a pod with MPJ that he seemed pretty into relative to most of his media stuff.
I feel like you kind of have to get into the weeds with MPJ and keep him there because otherwise, he’ll stray into MRA talking points pretty quickly
It’s wild that the most in depth English interview we have with Jokic is done by freakin Michael Porter Jr. He was actually answering some legit questions on there like what does he think his life’s purpose is and providing some deep answers
Yeah, that guy was one of the best, if not the best, basketball journalists in the ex-Yugoslav region.
He passed away recently and it was a huge deal here.
The podcast/interview show he led (which you mentioned) had a lot of amazing guests from both the NBA and European basketball.
If it’s not called X’s and Okic I’m not interested.
here is the podcast btw. It’s in Serbian but there’s English subtitles.
Jokic is looking LEAN this offseason.
He wants to keep doing his best. The media can say whatever they want, but Jokic is giving his best for the last 6 years. Although he definitely won’t have as much titles as other legends (if he stays in Denver and they continue to sabotage him) in my book Jokic at the end of his career will be right there with players like Shaq and Kareem just how dominant he was and also his individual success, also it isn’t a small thing to win a title with Denver who has never done it before and it’s a small market team.
Yup. He will continue to be a problem in the best way. But usually he’s a total chonk in the summer. He looks the most fit in years. Every team better buckle up!
well him getting lean also means he’s not going be as dominant in the post anymore. We saw this last season where he was already leaner than usual, and struggled against Rudy who he usually ragdolls (it didn’t help that Rudy seems to have gotten bigger now.)
it’s a tradeoff of course, because other parts of his game will improve with him getting leaner. for example he has been taking and making more 3s than ever before. if they to decide to mark him at the 3 pt line, he will often roll to the basket and most bigs arent able to keep up with how much he moves off the ball
I disagree with this completely. The way I and most nuggets fans see it is he was probably at his best form ever before he got injured. His last 2 games he went 56/16/15 +15 in 4 pt win and 34/21/12 +16 in a 1 pt loss lol
He averaged 32/13/11 the 20 games before injury, probably his best streak ever. After the injury he looked noticeably worse conditioning and strength. He got tired far easier and had much more obvious shooting slumps, he kept the rebounding and assists the same but his PPG dropped to 25.7 for the remainder of the season. Which is a huge drop off from 30-32
His last 16 games he averaged only 23.9 PPG and scored 30+ 4 times total. He was not looking like himself at all and it had if anything he gained weight over his 6 week Injury and looked sloppier and slower. The first 2 months of the season he was far leaner.
“Only scored 30+ 4 times in a 16 games stretch” as a negative is such a testament to Jokic’s greatness
He averaged 32/13/11 the 20 games before injury, probably his best streak ever.
it was the best offensive season anyone has had EVER up until he got hurt.
Wishing, hoping, maybe even praying.. I really want Wemby to stay healthy and reach his full potential
A lot of tall, lanky guys haven’t held up to the physical rigors of the modern game.
Who are the recent flameouts of the modern game? Feels like heavier guys are the more likely casualties, that much weight on your joints with quick change of direction adds up hard
Imo its moreso the DVT and especially the intermittent knee and calf strains he’s already been dealing with, and thats WITH being extremely conservative about his minutes. With DVT you just never know, but the strains and contact injuries at his position i dont see getting better with age.
With Wemby I’m sure it’s going to be different. He’s prepared his body in a lot ways to counteract the risk of injuries, like learning how to land better and also the immense amounts of yoga/stretching he does to boost his flexibility
And still in his third season in the league he played fewer minutes than 41 y.o. LeBron. His conditioning is going to have to get much better, at a minimum.
Yes and that’s why people are saying they hope he remains healthy
If Wemby becomes a 3 level scorer, and there is legit no one stopping him from being the best to ever do it. Some legit post moves and his 3 point shooting makes him extremely terrifying. Adding some decent midrange touches would break basketball for all of us.
He just has to stay healthy, and just keep up with what he does, both physically and mentally.
His biggest weakness is stamina - he gets gassed by the 4th
I can give him grace. This was his first postseason. And this was his actual first season playing winning basketball.
He also needs a legit backup center so he doesn’t strain himself too much. Those Kornet minutes were brutal. Wemby had to check in sooner than he could with enough recovery. Spurs have tried to fix it with the current draft picks. Spurs are giving everything possible to win with Wemby
I also think part of the plan with Reed and Quaintance is that if they pan out maybe Wemby can play more like a 4 on offense against some teams and do his zone around the key on defense while the other 2 set screens, box out, guard shooting bigs, and all the other big man busy work
That definitely sounds like a good plan in theory. I feel like he was often asked to do a bit too much in the playoffs last year even if his stamina could be improved
I think our front office was surprised by the squad’s progress this year. They did not approach the deadline looking for a run at the championship. We were projected to be a playing team this year
The Kornet situation was strange. It’s like everyone forgot that when the Celtics won Kornet was the 3rd string center who barely played in the last two rounds of the playoffs.
Kornet is an elite 3rd center and a mediocre to bad backup C.
People were acting like he was a great backup big when he’s just not.
The thing is, there isn’t a lot of choice out there. Decent centers in general seem kind of thin on the ground these days, and the good ones are in demand. Fingers are crossed that Reed and Quaintance turn out to be everything we hope for.
Agreed. I just heard people refer to him as the best backup C in the NBA multiple times last season and it was extremely confusing since he wasn’t even the best backup center on the Celtics.
It’s like everyone forgot the good Celtics started Porzingis and then had Horford as the backup and then Kornet.
It’s like if people called Cory Jospeh the best backup point guard in the NBA when he was playing being TP and Patty Mills.
Right, I’ve heard that as well, but I’ve always interpreted it as “the best backup C currently available to us”. After all, for as much as Kornet disappeared in the Finals, Mitch never once tried to sub in Biyombo, Olynyck, or Plumlee. Why we had 3 unplayable bigs riding the bench all season I’ll never know, but for me, nothing signals “this team didn’t expect to make the Finals” like that situation.
Every fucking Knicks flair wants to bring up Wemby getting gassed in the 4th. We get it y’all had an easy af playoff run and got to play a gassed, inexperienced Spurs team coming off a 7 game series against the defending champs. Enjoy it and see y’all again in 50 years.
Well its weird because it makes sense he was gassed. He played the most minutes out of anyone in the finals and is a primary player on both ends of the court. They say it as some sort of flaw but he was doing everything. Its not like he was playing 28 minutes and trudging around
I love how pissed off this comment is 😅
Why are you so mad 😂
What about my comment sounded like I was mad? I just stated facts and then told Knicks fans to enjoy their championship. Pretty friendly stuff if you ask me.
Your entire comment sounded angry and snarky. You think it didn’t? lmao
Spurs had an easier run when you consider Minnesota and OKC were decimated with injuries missing 1st and second options anyways lol
wemby had poor stamina in the beginning of the OKC series too lmaooooo. he had one great OT game to start and that tired him out for like the next three games
getting this defensive over someone mentioning wemby’s poor stamina is funny
wemby was gassed against the thunder too for literally like 4 of the 7 games
The Spurs got to play an injured Wolves, injured OKC, and then a 53-win East team in the Finals and had the worst Finals choke job of all time.
Wemby blew what will probably be the easiest path he’ll ever have to a title.
Lmfao - take it easy otherwise you’ll gas yourself out just like Wemby!!
No, his biggest weakness is strength. Bro couldn’t even back down a guard let alone the likes of KAT or Robinson in the NBA Finals. It’s why he sticks around the perimeter jacking threes, he just can’t force himself into the paint by backing down an opponent. Right now the way to limit him is to just cut off all avenues to the paint, which is what the Knicks did.
Peak-wise, I agree with you, but it’s very hard to surpass the careers and resumes of Jordan, LeBron, and Kareem. The three of them have set a standard so high that it’s hard to comprehend anyone catching up to that.
If anyone can do it in this era, it’s Wemby. Multiple DPOYs, multiple MVPs are there for him to grab for sure.
Championships and FMVPs are part of team achievements unfortunately. And you can’t sustain a dynasty in the modern NBA. As much as I love parity, dynasties give a different taste to the league. I hope the next CBA can allow making dynasties possible, albeit difficult.
You already diminishing championships for him? He won’t even be the best Spur if he isn’t winning a bunch of chips.
It’s not easy to get a lot of chips in modern cba. Just 1 ring for Jokic should not diminish him from top 15 convos. 1 ring in modern cba means a lot
Jokic is top 20 because of his three MVPs and generational offensive production, moreso than the fact that he’s won a championship. But his championship is the ultimate validator of his accomplishments, since he went out and won it all. So it’s a fine line. In the context of all-time greats though, the majority of them have multiple championships and elite resumes on top of them. Regardless of era, to be at the very top, you have to meet both of those conditions, and I just don’t see Wemby being able to do it. Six MVPs. Finals MVP as a rookie starting in the complete opposite of your normal position, when your best player is out. 50 points per game for a whole season. Two three-peats. 22-all star selections. This type of winning is nigh impossible to replicate.
We are talking about anointing someone the GOAT. Also, basketball is the sport where a single player can make the most impact. If you try calling some future player the GOAT when they are sparse on chips, you would be talking nonsense.
Exactly. Look at the dozen or so players that are most commonly inserted into top ten all time lists…. Jordan - 6 chips LeBron - 4 chips Kareem - 6 chips Russell - 11 chips Magic - 5 chips Duncan - 5 chips Bird - 3 chips Kobe - 5 chips Shaq - 4 chips Curry - 4 chips Wilt - 2 chips Hakeem - 2 chips
That’s close to the order most people would have those players. The fringe top ten players are the two with the least chips. The guys in the top five are the ones with the most. It’s pretty simple logic that most people just fail to comprehend. It is a team sport where the ultimate goal is to win a championship for your team. You simply cannot be the greatest in a team sport with just a solitary championship in your career.
There are many flaws with that, but just to pick one easy one: By this logic, if Ray Allen bricks that 3, Tim Duncan becomes a better player and LeBron James becomes a worse player
unironically, people will think this yes. Ring culture is so toxic in basketball it literally blinds people to objectivity. Shit don’t matter to a lot of people unless you have a lot of rings
Would the Spurs win in 2014 if they win 2013? Don’t think so. Heat also make aggressive moves if they lose in 2013. The what-if stuff is silly cause it impacts everything
You can now. We’ve entered the wild west of under the table dealing.
All your takes are good. How are you a Lakers fan??
Genuinely though fans dont understand how difficult it is to be the offensive and defensive hub for 40 minutes, as Wemby was in his first year of winning basketball and full postseason.
I hate the narrative of ‘he’s tall, if he doesnt do this, he’s a bum’, or adjacents to it. Most understand how special he is, but some have not even began to comprehend it yet.
I trust that his stamina will be better next year and if that is all he adds, that is fine by me.
Believe me, I will be rooting against the Spurs if they are against my Lakers. I love the Lakers and Luka too much.
But Wemby is special. In terms of emotional maturity perspective as well, I feel he is going to be a lot better in comparison to last year, when he lost composure against the Knicks multiple times. But even if you increase the stamina, asking him to be a monster both sides of the ball is not easy. At some point, Spurs need to figure out either to give more help to Wemby on any one side of ball to conserve his energy. Ideally on defense where he gets good weak side rim protection. That will be perfect.
Championships and FMVPs are part of team achievements unfortunately
I absolutely hate this narrative. They are playing basketball. Basketball IS A TEAM GAME! The ultimate goal in this team game is to WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. Therefore, to crown a player as the greatest of all time, that player needs to have led his team to multiple championships. Of course all the other stuff is important too, the MVPs, the DPOYs, the Finals MVPs etc but the absolute pinnacle of the sport is to win a championship. Now if you say, ‘well Russell is the GOAT then’ I guess you are entitled to that opinion but the NBA was a far different place back then, the Celtics were going up against teams with the equivalent of 37 and 38 wins in the Finals while only having to win a solitary playoff series just to make the Finals. Different world.
The NBA is also really different than when other GOAT candidates were playing. Obviously not to the same degree as when Bill Russell was playing, but considering no champ has repeated in a while when a bunch of them were regarded as the next dynasty makes multiple championships seem even more prestigious if the personal accolades are there. This opens up the discussion what number of championships is the minimum to be considered the GOAT. If LeBron can be considered the GOAT at 4 titles, could Wemby be the goat with 3 if his personal accolades are great enough? Or is that too little compared to MJ’s 6? Not saying he needs to be anywhere close to unanimous because there’s always gonna be detractors. I mean his finals record is always gonna be worse than Jordan’s already.
I have pretty much the same thoughts, once he improves his midrange it’s over
You just pretty much need a guard who can facilitate him at all times. Harper is legit. But around Wemby, you need a playmaker, and I have doubts regarding Harper’s playmaking. I dont doubt his shooting and finishing.
This is one thing people don’t realize about big men like Jokic or Wemby. They aren’t shai, or LeBron or Giannis where they can get the ball at half court and go to work. They need to get the ball in their spots. That requires a team effort. It is a downside to them but it’s why Jokic developed his sombor shuffle. He needs a go to shot when it’s hard. So that’s it. He can’t burn or shake his defender.
People (not necessarily you) stay forgetting about Stephon Castle, when he’s probably our greatest passer. Averaged the most assists on the team and has great lob connection with Wemby and Kornet.
I assumed he uses most of his energy guarding the most threatening guard/wing, and focuses mainly on finishing and spot up shooting. I didn’t know this.
They do it so often the SA announcers started calling the move Area 51. It’s a classic, we expect to see at least a couple of those every game.
Spot up shooting has actually been his primary flaw, alongside the turnover issue.
People on the spurs sub said they wouldn’t trade Harper for Luka rn which single-handedly made me stop interacting with the sub
That’s an understandable take, Dylan isn’t on Luka’s level but he will be a star, he plays both ways and is like 20 and already has a deep bag, the only real possibility of Luka and Wemby playing together was when the mavs decided to trade him without opening a bidding war and in that scenario the Lakers probably end up with Dylan but now there’s no way they dissolve their core imo, they will end up offloading fox to keep their 3 guys.
Realistically. He needs to stop playing defense at such a high level. Expends way too much energy playing free safety all game.
But is that how he brings the maximum defensive impact for the team? If yes, then offensively he can hold back a bit and no need to go for 30+ points. 15-22 points would be amazing night for him in that case.
But that won’t make him the best to ever do it. He will be the best defender for sure. But offense in playoffs and clutch is what sets the top 10 apart. Interesting problem for sure.
Jordan was playing first team level defense all the way up until his final Bulls season (age 35). He was top four in DPOY voting that season too. Didn’t stop him dropping 30ppg though. As you say, it takes incredible stamina to do that and it’s one of Jordan’s most underrated qualities, his stamina levels were off the damn charts. Bro was playing 36 holes of golf during the day then would drop 50 in a playoff game at night. He was staying up all night playing cards at the Olympics then would play a game during the day. You need to have all of the qualities to be the GOAT….isn’t that inferred anyway? To be the absolute best, the greatest to ever do it in human history should require that player to be elite an almost every basketball quality imagineable. That includes having the physical qualities…elite athleticism, strength and stamina. Wemby is clearly lacking in at least one of those…and if you are saying his stamina is poor then he is lacking in at least two.
i honestly want to see it all over his career. i want a few seasons as a one main interior defense, i want a few more as a a true rim protector, i want a few where he’s playing next to a C and is basically the best helper in history. just for science you know
It ain’t gonna work out like that though. He puts in too much effort on defense. You can’t be the number 1 guy at both ends of the floor and expect to have longevity. We literally just saw it in the playoffs. He’s brilliant, then the 4th quarter starts and he’s out of gas. That’s not something that’s going to get better with age. He’s young and has the most stamina he’s ever going to have right now.
Tough. I agree with you. Being a center unfortunately comes with a lot of burden on defense. So it’s not like Wemby can let go on defense so that he can be number 1 on offense. Either you could give him another rim protector, or a weakside rim protector to help him. You could build the team structure to help Wemby on defense.
Yea, I honestly think people are just expecting too much from him. Hes gonna get injured. Every player that size has dealt with a litany of injuries over their careers. He has to be the #2, maybe even the #3 option on offense if they want him to play defense like he does now. He’s great, but he’s not about to be the best player on both ends of the floor for much longer. If SA doesn’t get him help he’s going to get hurt sooner than later. And with a frame like that, once he gets injured it’s not gonna be pretty.
It’s weird to watch him because I think the odds of him having a healthy career are so low. People are going to act like it was always so obvious he would have injury problems, but you don’t get that sense at all now.
I mean you see it all over this thread. Despite having been relatively healthy it’s the biggest asterisk people already out on him
Part of the reason why he isn’t a 3 level scorer yet especially against playoff defenses isn’t just his stamina- it’s his lower body strength. He needs to get stronger there. He already has pretty good touch. He gets bumped off his spots way too easily and still too easy to force him into tough mid range jump shots. It’s why he’s always on the floor. He needs to be able to absorb contact much better to hit his ceiling as a premier 1a scorer.
People will argue he shouldn’t gain any weight or increase his strength. I’ve heard his people don’t want him to get any heavier/stronger.
I don’t agree, but it’s a controversial subject.
He definitely shouldn’t be adding too much weight at his size. His flexibility and fluidity is what makes him rare and will help prolong his career. But he needs to add a little strength down there.
That’s my position, too. I think it would enhance his game a lot. I was surprised when a fan told me wembys people are against it.
Nah jordan fans stopping him for sure. They already have their forks out especially with that 1 L in the finals.
I think health is the only thing that can stop him. I believe people underestimate how much offensive upside he has left.
facts
We could say the same thing if someone drafted Air Bud.
This sent me on an Air Bud deep dive. There’s a new theater release planned for 2027, also there was an Air Buddies spin off that has had 6 direct to tv movies with none of them focused on basketball.
lol
Jokic is cool.
Jokić, of all people, recognizes how many raw gifts Wemby has at his disposal
But we will see a lot of Knicks fans with the most absurd takes ever. Ahahhahahahhaa
Imagine, who is Jokic to say something like that? as if he knows anything about basketball…
“Wemby is 0-1 in the Finals hahahahaha”
Knicks in 5 is the only take that matters.
Congrats on your title. Very much deserving. You were lucky you played the very young inexperienced spurs, not OKC.
Spurs were not ready to win last season. Sure, they beat OKC because of sheer talent, matchup problem for SGA (cannot attack Wemby), and some key injuries. But still it was a 7-game series. That’s what OKC’s experience does. Even if they had a wemby problem, they find ways to win.
Now, san antonio team clearly had a fatal roster flaw (no size and no rebounding) and not-so-great perimeter defense yet. That is BAD when playing the knicks. And when the spurs weakness is exposed, they are TOO YOUNG to overcome adversity, and that’s exactly what happened. The series was not even close.
Near everybody agree that the spurs are clearly the better talented team. They had the lead all series long but lost all 4th quarters. They just don’t have the right pieces, and they don’t have the poise and the stamina yet to overcome such an experienced team like the knicks.
Only if OKC managed to beat the spurs (they nearly did) they would have been the b2b champs. Your team just caught the right opponent at the right time. It was New York’s time to reclaim the title I’d say.
But down the road? If the two teams face meet other again in the playoffs, I guarantee you it would be different. San antonio will be a LOT better.
Hahahahaha… you mad mad
Spurs have 5.
Neat.
Wemby would have to win more than 6 championships to be seen as the GOAT and even if he did that one loss is enough for Jordan stans to not give him the edge over Jordan. LeBron won 4 championships went to like 8 straight finals, has multiple MVPs/finals MVPs, holds many records, and has played at a high level for 23 straight years and that’s still not enough for them.
it doesn’t make sense, it’s way harder now to build a competitive teams and skill is higher than ever. otherwise Russell would be de facto the goat
Jordan’s two threepeats is equivalent to one three peat in the modern era especially with the new apron rules
If someone threepeats they are in the goat debate
Or they can have longevity like LeBron and are in the debate
Both jordan and LeBron have cases over each other(peak vs longevity)
The peak vs longevity argument is bogus. If two players are so closely matched, where one has a slightly better peak but the other played like twice as long then logic suggests the one who played twice as long should have way more accolades and achievements, simply because he was ‘nearly’ as good yet played so much more. But that isn’t the case, in fact Jordan still has more accolades overall, he has more major accolades, he has more playoff records and he did that all in half the time. If you want longevity on your side then you damn sure as hell need to have achieved more.
That’s a bogus argument about peak vs longevity.
You say it’s bogus because of the idea that if two players were almost the same peak, but one has much much better longevity, then it’s obvious who is better.
Reality is much more nuanced than that one hypothetical scenario.
Bill Walton had a peak as high as anyone, and was arguably equal to Kareem in 77⁄78. But his longevity is so bad, most people wouldn’t put him over Dirk all time — who had a much lower peak, but great longevity.
Im ngl in parity era winning multiple holds greater value imo
Parity era started after Bron won everything
Well LeBron and the Warriors
LeBron won 4 championships went to like 8 straight finals, has multiple MVPs/finals MVPs, holds many records, and has played at a high level for 23 straight years and that’s still not enough for them.
Jordan won six championships, he won more MVPs, he won more Finals MVPs, he won a DPOY that LeBron didn’t do and he holds more playoff records than anyone else, still. Overall, he won 70 career accolades in just 13 eligible seasons. LeBron wasn’t eligible last season so he has played 22 eligible seasons and won 68 career accolades. What’s more, MJ won 68 of those in 11 eligible seasons as a Bull. It literally took LeBron twice as long to win as much as MJ won as a Bull. TWICE AS LONG. That is why MJ is the greatest. Not some silly ‘six from six’ argument. Bro has way, way more things in his favour than that.
I think no matter what, MJ will be tough to take over for Wemby. Why? Because Wemby is a a genetic freak. He’s athletic and 7’6. Jordan did what he did as a more “normal” sized nba player, and he was still way better than everyone else ever. So I think that debate would never die, even if wemby does win a lot. There’s been plenty of 6’6 nba players, but MJ was king. It takes a 7’6 freak to displace him? Some would always give that asterisk.
That’s always such a bad argument, it’s like “oh, if he’d lost to OKC that would be better”
The late 80s to 90s has 6 teams added to it. That entire era was significantly watered down.
I don’t remember those teams being in the playoffs.
I don’t think you understand how the expansion process worked with the expansion draft
(peak vs longevity)
Just to nitpick, it is funny that Lebron is turning into the “longevity” angle in the GOAT debate, but before it was Lebron peak (2009, 2012-13) as the GOAT argument and how he could do everything
Yeah I think jordan’s peak(88-93) or single season 1990-91 is still slightly higher but LeBron does gap him in the longevity department so that’s his main argument
That one Finals is enough to make fans turn on Wemby, tbh. Flopping, dirty play and choking is a terrible combination.
Jokic to the spurs
NBA players glaze wemby but fans dont want the media to lmao
Joker himself is likely the most unique basketball player tbh, far more than Wemby. High praise though, true gentleman.
Even as a Serb id still say Wemby is the greater Unicorn.
Game recognize game
The problem Wemby will face is that defense is not valued in the same way offense is. Wemby’s defensive impact is otherworldly, and it shows up in all advanced stats but also in the traditional box score way that the average person can also understand. He is so much the best defensive player in the world that everybody knows DPOY is his as long as he hits the games played requirement. There hasn’t been an undisputed best defensive player of this caliber in decades.
But how much is defense worth really when it comes to how people argue about who the best players ever are? As long as you’re an unbelievable offensive player your place among the all time greats can be secure, even if your defense was bad like Magic or Jokic or Curry. But the inverse doesn’t work the other way. An all time great defender like Gobert who is bad at offense isn’t treated the same, and in fact is made fun of relentlessly.
Wemby is already better at defense than Jordan or Lebron or Kareem ever were. The gap between them is also not close. But since that doesn’t really matter, the question is how good at offense does he need to get in order for his defensive gap to function as some sort of tiebreaker
It truly is interesting how most people disregard literally HALF of the game.
Wemby’s defense is like nothing anyone, I believe, has ever seen before. Never have offensive players been as skilled and protected by the rules as they are now yet Wemby still manages to completely dismantle a team’s offensive scheme with his mere presence!
Just like people talk about the feeling of seeing Jordan/Curry shoot the ball and just assuming it’s going in, I think the same way when you see Wemby contest a shot and thinking he’ll block or alter it.
They do it partly because defense is not half of the game
Jokic didn’t speak a word of 🧢
Wemby needs to put on more weight in the form of muscle mass. Improved bone density comes with resistance training. More muscle also helps protect the ligaments and provides more joint stability. It also means you can exert more force with less ‘work’ throughout the game and you’re able to continue working longer before reaching a state of fatigue.
People talk about him not being more aggressive but it’s really because he often can’t. He can’t effectively get to his spots. He doesn’t absorb impact well. He’s not backing down much stronger dudes with a lower center of gravity. Offensively he definitely needs to develop a more refined bag – not just for the sake of being a more reliable scorer but in terms of energy efficiency. There’s too much wasted movement for a man of that size. That’ll come with time though.
his greatest strength is his agility and coordination. If he becomes super heavy like zach eddy, his defense will suffer a lot. His defense is what makes him special. I feel like on offense the need to find a gameplay where wemby can roll more often. Because in the games where his team finds hm on the roll he scores 30+. More muscle mass does not equal more efficient movement.
>>If he becomes super heavy like zach eddy
There’s a difference between putting on like another 10-15 solid for Wemby and being 300+lbs like Zach Edey.
>>More muscle mass does not equal more efficient movement
Common misconception. More muscle doesn’t mean mean turn into Dwayne Johnson. More muscle doesn’t automatically make you slower if you’re training functionally and not just building for maximum hypertrophy and aesthetics. A stronger core/foundation can help with your explosiveness, stride efficiency, and general economy for maintaining form when facing resistance throughout the game. Extra stability, having more available power, and being able to exert more said power in your steps can actually help with agility. Basketball especially as a center isn’t just endurance running with no resistance.
Why does it sound like I’m outside the conference hall listening to this? I cant make out any clear words lol
I don’t think wemby will ever be as good as jokic. He’s too skinny imo
jokic i far better offensively, but wemby is by far the best defender in the world. People forget that. His offense is still limited, but has a very high ceiling. You see what happens when the spurs actually use him well in the pick and roll.
He’s already better but sure.
He’s not wrong, but I feel like people underestimate how hard it’ll be for someone to definitively beat either the dominance-based argument for Joedan or the longevity-based argument for Lebron.
I don’t think Wemby will be the goat because of longevity but I do think he’ll be top 10, maybe top 5, and is the only person in the NBA that I think has a serious shot to be the goat. He is very obviously shaping up to be the consensus best defender since Bill Russell while also being one of the best offensive players in the league barring injuries. His biggest obstacle is injury risk and longevity imo, alongside his comparatively struggling lack of playmaking.
All I’ll say though is that I’ve never seen the LeBron media pieces try to discredit a clearly elite young player as hard as they have Wemby. Just like the hardcore Jordan stans never tried so hard to discredit a young LeBron. It’s the first time in along time I feel like people who are set on who they consider a goat actually seem afraid that someone has the potential to pass them.
Longevity? Kareem played 20 seasons, first season at 22 years old, without modern medicine and training methods. Timmy played 19, first season at 21.
Vic takes care of his body. Rudy Gobert is on his 13th season, but played his first NBA season at 21.
Wemby will probably play at least 18 seasons.
He’s played 3 seasons and missed 80 games already 😂
DVT isn’t a long term illness.
Kareem also played half his career with half the talent in the ABA. If people are gonna say 6 expansion teams watered down the league for MJ then i gotta bring that up for Kareem lol.
Regardless, GOAT talk is pointless this early in his career. Even then, MJ said it should refer to your generation because rarely do GOATS get to play each other, let alone at their peaks.
Wemby takes care of his body the best he can but clearly he will still struggle with injuries due to his size and the position he plays. Hes had multiple strains and sprains while playing conservative minutes, part of MJ and Lebron’s greatness was being iron men for most of their career and always available never missing a playoff game. A lot has to change for durability to be a factor for Wemby, right now he’s on a AD trajectory
Lol
Yeah nice glaze but no.
He lost in the finals. That best ever talk ship has sailed
MJ was getting bounced in the 1st round during his first 7 years.
You can’t say that was better than the dude reaching the finals (albeit losing) in his 3rd year.
And still has 2 three peats. Lmfao no one is close to the goat
Let’s just wait another ten years
If he can get 10 DPOY and 6 rings along with at least 5 FMVP in the next 10, I’ll consider it a discussion. Got a long way to go.
Dunno, 6 dpoys, 4 MVPs and 6 rings would be more than enough for me.
He literally still wouldn’t have a better resume. I get it everyone is tired of MJ being the greatest. But to be the greatest you have to have a better resume. MJ has THE MOST SCORING TITLES, 7 consecutively! Most ever FINAL MVP, only player leading a team to 2 three peats. Never lost a finals series and never went more than 6 games. It’s really too much to over come.
Nah, “never lost a finials series” is not really a feat and, well, every professional sport gets objectively more competitive with time so at least some adjustment is in order. To me what I mentioned above would be enough.
“Adjustment”, sounds like cope to me.
Eh, I’m not a fan of either so it’s more like me trying to be fair or something.
people act like losing in the first round is better than losing in the finals.
you get that this era is garbage right. every player weighs like the minimum amount of weight. Victor Wembanyama is a toothpick. his arms are skinny, his legs are skinny, his torso is skinny, the dude has no weight to him. so when hes pushing his weight into his defendor he just pushes him aside because hes taller and the fact that the guy thats guarding him has the same height/weight ratio as him.
if you took a player like shaq and put him in this era, he would destroy everyone because nobody can guard him because of his size. he would put up 50 points a night and thats missing 20 FT a game.
so for Jokic to say he could be the greatest ever, is an insult to all that came before him, because basketball in the 2020’s isn’t the same as it was in the 1990’s/2000’s. put Wembanyama in the 90’s and he would be trash, because every 7’5 toothpick that played during that era couldn’t even make an all-star game.
The most overrated NBA player talking about the dirtiest NBA player. European players are so ass lol
Too bad 2x MVP, finals MVP SGA exists.
he already better than u