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LOS ANGELES — By the time he saw the shot go up, a familiar look came across Victor Wembanyama’s face in an unfamiliar place. As he threw his hands in the air in disgust, there emerged a genuine look of frustration and disappointment … at the NBA All-Star Game?!
On the final play of the World Team’s opening game of what has now become the All-Star tournament, Wembanyama was defending the 3-point line as passionately as he does every time he throws on his San Antonio Spurs jersey. But when he saw his teammates give up an open 3, he could see it was too late.
It was in that moment that he fulfilled his promise to the basketball world.
Ahead of his first appearance in the All-Star Game, Wembanyama vowed to bring the contest back to its former glory. He’s becoming increasingly aware of his powers to affect change in a sport that has become increasingly commodified, providing his unbridled authenticity to bear in an attempt to make it all just feel real again.
It wasn’t the hard defense, the aggressive foul-drawing or the barking at the refs in the glorified exhibition that is the All-Star Game. It was the genuine sense of defeat. The moment Wembanyama lost the game and looked like he actually felt like he lost an important matchup, the All-Star Game suddenly became real again.
“I’ve always thought to myself that if I was in there, I’m never stepping onto the court to lose or not (care),” Wembanyama said earlier this week. “Just like at home, I’m never stepping into a board game not caring if I’m going to lose. So I’m thinking it’s (not) OK to lose, so I’m going to be out there, I might as well win.”
NBA players have so much money on the line that they try to stray away from that line when the games don’t matter. Kemba Walker’s knee and career crumbling in the 2021 All-Star Game hastened those concerns. Even if it wasn’t the sole reason for his prime’s demise, it irked players enough to put the competition of the All-Star Game to rest.
If anything is going to change, it won’t happen externally. Change has to come from within.
Wembanyama said he wanted to bring that contrast of a single guy who goes wild, diving for loose balls and hustling on every play. He said he wanted to move the ball with energy, expecting the best players in the game to share that energy back.
“If they don’t play hard, I’ll do it without,” he said.
He looked to be alone in his efforts at first, but the rest of the field responded, and an actually entertaining All-Star Game was reborn.
“I ain’t gonna lie, Wemby set the tone,” Edwards told NBC’s Zora Stephenson on the broadcast. “Hard not to match that, so, s—, that’s what happened.”
In the end, he played just as he promised, but didn’t win once Sunday. He missed an open 3 at the buzzer to force overtime in his second game, ending the World Team’s run. But he may have won something grander in scale.
Now, a young star is raising his hand. You already know who it’s gonna be. The NBA’s new moralist-in-chief, the purported ethics czar.
Wembanyama’s emergence as one of the faces of the league has come as much off the floor as on the hardwood. He doesn’t just dilate the filter when polarizing questions come his way; he pulls the pulpit closer.
Is it time to officially declare Victor Wembanyama as the new face of the NBA?
“Obviously, the social media, (the) NBA can promote whoever they want. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be the best players and who the people ask for,” Wembanyama said on Sunday. “Being the face of the league, it’s something that can be manufactured, but only to some extent. It’s only going to be the best players. This is what it’s all about.”
His performance Sunday indicated his potential and performance are aligning quickly. He had 33 points on 10-for-13 shooting in 20 minutes total, trailing just Kawhi Leonard’s 37 points in 34 minutes across three games.
Wembanyama’s ascendancy follows two distinct tracks. The first is what he does on the floor and how he redefines the sport. He may be the league’s tallest unicorn, but he is not its first. From Wilt Chamberlain to Hakeem Olajuwon to Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is a long list of 7-footers who have taken graceful movement and power to new heights.
“I am part of something. I’m part of a big-picture mechanism,” Wembanyama said postgame. “I think that, right now, it’s an era of very skilled bigs that this position is definitely evolving. Am I a symptom of that? Yes, because I’ve watched these guys growing up and got inspired by that. Am I participating in the change? I think I am. I’m pushing the boundaries in some way.”
Then, there is the Wembanyama in front of the microphone, where he has blossomed into a new thought leader to carry the league into the next generation. Taking the mantle from LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry requires someone to raise their hand as a guardian of the game. There has to be a willingness to make himself part of something bigger.
Wembanyama often recognizes that, whether he’s talking about being a part of the big-man evolution or the Jackals ultras fan section he co-founded in San Antonio. He constantly uses language to recognize that as big as he is, he is merely a piece to the puzzle.
When he espouses his ideals for a better league and a better world, it comes from a duality of a humbled god complex. He is deified by his admirers and even his peers enough to understand his place in the world, but is connected to his sense of self enough to see his own reflection through the waves of adoration.
It makes him a good candidate to be the spokesperson for greatness in a league full of it.
On Sunday, he showed the world how he wants to handle that greatness with purpose in a league that has been struggling to hold onto it. Now, the All-Star Game feels like it has meaning once again.
Wembanyama will have to add more to his résumé to earn universal approval to be the face of the league. Perhaps he can’t step onto that throne until James, Durant and Curry abdicate it by hanging up their jerseys.
But we can all see where this thing is going. He’s taking the reins. Sunday was just another reminder that basketball will be in good, very large, hands for a long time.
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Jared Weiss is a staff writer covering the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama for The Athletic. He has covered the Celtics since 2011, co-founding CLNS Media Network while in college before covering the team for SB Nation’s CelticsBlog and USA Today. Before coming to The Athletic, Weiss spent a decade working for the government, primarily as a compliance bank regulator. Follow Jared on Twitter @JaredWeissNBA
