Player of the Week

Victor Wembanyama (SAS) is our Player of the Week for Week 2.

San Antonio opened the season 1-2, with losses to Oklahoma City and Houston, and Wembanyama admitted after the opener that he needed to get back to the game he enjoys playing. Since then, the Spurs have won four straight to climb to 4-2 and fifth in the West, and this week was built almost entirely around their center.

It started Tuesday against Sacramento. Victor Wembanyama went 14 of 21 for 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in under 27 minutes, tying his career high with nine dunks in a 130-103 rout that gave San Antonio its first home win. The next night in Salt Lake City was harder. The Spurs trailed a short-handed Jazz team by as many as 11, Wembanyama kept them close with 21 first-half points, and San Antonio closed overtime on a 12-0 run to win 117-111. He finished with 36 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists.

Saturday brought the peak. Against a Minnesota side missing Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, he scored 43 points on a career-high 34 shots and added 6 blocks. No Spur had paired 40 points with five blocks since David Robinson in 1996. Coach Mitch Johnson pointed to how much harder he is to guard when he plays through his teammates.

The week averages tell the story: 36 points per game, 4.3 blocks, and 56% from the field against 48% on the season. That run has him #4 in our MVP model, on a Spurs team that looks back on track after a rough start.