The losses are piling up for the San Antonio Spurs at a rapid rate, but No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama can feel improvement coming from himself and the team.
The Spurs (3-14) have lost 12 straight games after they were beaten on Sunday by the Denver Nuggets. The streak is the third longest in franchise history, trailing their 16-game skid last season and a 13-game run during the 1988-89 season.
Miraculously, the Spurs don’t even have the longest losing streak this year. That feat belongs to the Detroit Pistons, who have lost 14 straight games. But the Spurs have the worst point differential in the league. They are getting outscored by an average of 12.9 points per game.
Still, the team is confident in what it is doing daily.
“Everybody comes in with a purpose and to do good at work,” Wembanyama said after practice on Tuesday. “Everybody knows where we’re going, and most of the people here have been through everything before, so we’re in good hands.”
Wembanyama is the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year after a tremendous start to the campaign. He is leading the class in scoring, averaging 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.3 steals on 43% shooting from the field in 17 games.
The 7-footer seemingly puts up absurd stat lines and joins a different Hall of Famer in rare company every night. On Sunday, he became the first player to record 22 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and four blocks in 25 minutes or fewer in a game.
The scary part is Wembanyama still has plenty of room to grow.
“I think what is satisfying so far is all of the areas that we’ve targeted with the coaches and individual work, we’ve actually gotten better at it,” Wembanyama said. “It means we’re not talking for nothing and doing work for nothing. I feel like I’m getting better every day. It makes sense since it is my rookie season, and I’m still a teenager, but this is probably the worst Victor we’ll ever see. I believe I keep getting better and better every year, so it is promising.”
Wembanyama notched the highest-scoring game by a rookie this season with 38 points on Nov. 2 versus the Phoenix Suns. He is one of three first-year players with multiple 25-point games (3) and is the only player with at least 20 steals and 40 blocks.
He admitted the most he’d ever lost prior to this season was likely when he played soccer growing up. However, he has performed at a high level to this point of the season and will likely soon win Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October and November.
The Spurs were expected to be largely in a developmental mode this season, with the youngest roster in the league at an average age of 23.52. The early results have reflected that, but the phenom believes in his teammates and his organization moving forward.
“I’m still learning every day, but I know I’ve already gotten better since the beginning of the season,” Wembanyama said. “I know the beginning might not look like the end. As a team, I know we’re going to get so much better and, individually, I know — month to month or even game to game — it is going to be exponentially better.
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