As If He Wasn't Terrifying Enough, Victor Wembanyama Reportedly Gained 25 Pounds In One Offseason

Michael Gonzales. Getty Images.

Heading into last season, there seemed to be this obsession with being a contrarian when it came to Wemby. Maybe it's because everyone with eyes declared he was the greatest prospect to enter the league since LeBron (he was), but for some reason, there were a select few that went the other way and did nothing but call him overrated, suggest that he would be a bust, mostly because he was skinny as hell. Remember all those takes about how he would be "bullied" now that he was playing in the NBA? How'd that go? Oh right...

I'd say for my money, he was one of the few rookies we've seen that not only immediately backed up their pre-NBA hype, he blew it out of the water. I'd argue Wemby was even better than we could have realistically expected, and the scary part was last year was just the beginning. The 2023-24 season was the worst Victor Wembanyama is ever going to be. Just think about that for a second. 

Well, now as we enter Year 2, it sure sounds like the reckoning is upon us

I'm no NBA trainer, but I feel like 25 pounds is a lot to put on in one offseason, and if I'm to believe that Wemby still has his mobility and quickness (for his size) with this new added bulk……uh….what is anyone going to do defensively? His thin frame was basically his only "weakness" and it was essentially a non-factor. Wemby played 71 games last year and went toe to toe with the best of the best from KD to Giannis to Emiid all while being skinny as shit. Now we have to worry about a Year 2 version of Wemby who not only is going to feel more comfortable with the NBA game, but is also starting to round into shape after being in an NBA training program. 

This was something that I couldn't wait to see when it came to Wemby's career. Sometimes guys stay skinny forever and never really bulk up (think KD), and some guys completely transform from skinny prospects to Greek Gods (think Giannis or Tatum). There was no doubt that Wemby was going to be a monster regardless of how he would be able to transform his body, but what if we're about to live in a world where he has the skillset/scoring/touch of KD (like we saw in flashes last year) but with a frame closer to Giannis/Tatum to where he's more capable of withstanding the abuse of being a center? What does that player even look like? There's a chance we're about to find out.

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There's a lot of hype surrounding this version of the Spurs heading into this season, and for good reason in my opinion. It obviously starts with Year 2 Wemby, but I do not think we should be sleeping on the added value that CP3 is going to bring. Even if he's not the CP3 of old in terms of his skill, he's still the Point Gawd, and considering how brutal the Spurs' point guard play was last season, he's only going to help. Plus you factor in all the mentoring aspects of that addition and if this Spurs team can figure out how to be around league average defensively (they were top 5 defensively with Wemby on the court last year), why can't think team crack the Play In if Wemby turns into the monster we're all expecting? At the very least I see no reason why they shouldn't be a bitch to play against, especially if a team overlooks them because they only won 22 games last year.

All I know is if you're a team with title aspirations, you better secure that Larry as quick as you possibly can. It's only a matter of time before Wemby runs the West and quite possibly the entire NBA, which at this point feels inevitable.