Unable to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the second meeting in 3 days, LeBron James temporarily put aside the story about his team to send praise to his opponent.
The name mentioned by the “king” is Victor Wembanyama, the young superstar from Europe that Spurs acquired with the number 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
“He is a special talent. Coach Popovich and San Antonio have a once-in-a-century star ,” LeBron James shared after the 115-129 defeat to Spurs.
Individually, LeBron scored 23 points and led the whole match with 14 assists. Meanwhile, Wembanyama had a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
This index is not as good as the career-high 30 points that Wemby had against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 14, but it is still enough to impress James.
More importantly, Victor Wembanyama and his teammates got a victory, a feeling that Spurs have only experienced four times since the beginning of the season.
Until the match against LeBron James on December 16, Wemby had an average of 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds with a shooting rate of 44% FG.
On defense, Victor is making the most of his long arms and great height, pocketing an average of 3.0 blocks per game (second highest in the entire NBA).
“This young man possesses real differences from the rest. While anyone can become a unicorn, Wemby is like an alien ,” LeBron James added about the French rookie .
“The way he dribbles the ball, throws step-backs from many distances, especially shoots 3-pointers in many different ways, not to mention defense. San Antonio Spurs have a rare talent in Victor Wembanyama.”
After a series of 2 consecutive matches last week, LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama will meet again at Regular Season. This match will take place on February 24, 2024, where the Los Angeles Lakers welcome the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena.