It was only a matter of time, and as is often the case with Victor Wembanyama, it went very, very quickly. Barely 24 hours after coming close to the five-by-five, failing for a small assist in Sacramento, the Frenchman did it again against the Lakers. In Los Angeles, Wembanyama was everywhere with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals. He succeeds another European, the Bosnian Jusuf Nurkic, the last player to have achieved such a feat in the NBA, on January 1, 2019.
With this XXL match, Wembanyama became the 15th player in the annals of the league to sign a “5X5” meaning five units or more in the five major statistical categories of basketball (points, rebounds, assists, interceptions, blocks). After Nicolas Batum, he is the second Habs in this almost exclusive club :
- Hakeem Olajuwon (six times)
- Andrei Kirilenko (three times)
- Julius Erving (twice)
- George Johnson
- George Gervin
- David Robinson
- Derek Coleman
- Vlade Divac
- Jamaal Tinsley
- Marcus Camby
- Nicolas Batum
- Draymond Green
- Anthony Davis
- Jusuf Nurkic
Only Jamaal Tinsley had managed a 5×5 in his rookie season. But at 20 years and 50 days old, he became the youngest player to achieve this in history! “ There are no limits for Wembanyama“, reacted LeBron James after the match. A LeBron who had already been won over for months by the “Wemby” phenomenon but who refused to get carried away. “ But make no mistake, he is not the first rookie to have an impact: Zion, AD, Blake Griffin, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Tyreke Evans… » Nevertheless, he released a tweet that says it all:
“ He has an exceptional coach who will make sure he does things the right way » added James, with regard to Gregg Popovich. His young Spurs did not come far from knocking down the winner of the Play-In Tournament, only giving in in the last quarter and confirming their progress in recent weeks despite their record. San Antonio was perfectly put on track by an ultra-aggressive Victor Wembanyama in the first quarter, and who was able to show more accuracy in his offensive choices.
A “great to coach” player
“ He is progressing well, we are skipping steps with him » admitted “Pop”. “ He's a great player to coach, he loves it, he takes criticism very well. We work on all the fundamentals, support, balance… Everything that beginner players need. He's getting better every month in a lot of these aspects. You could see his aggression tonight, he was on the throw line because he went towards the circle instead of backing up or avoiding contact. He understands how to play. » From there to seeing Gregg Popovich congratulate his nugget for his personal exploit of the evening? “ Five what? I don't think with these terms. Is this special for me? You don't know me very well I don't think. Do you need it for your article? I really don't care. I don't care about the numbers as long as he plays well and smart. »
After a slight slump at the end of 2023, Victor Wembanyama seems to have reached a milestone in reading matches, and better knowing when to take the game on his own, and when to attract defenses to better circulate the ball. His eight assists in the evening attest to this, and they do not say everything about his good work in distribution against the Lakers. Without chronic clumsiness in his teammates' outside shooting, the Frenchman could have added a triple-double to his already fabulous performance.
“ This kid… He's an immense, multi-faceted talent, he's very technical, but I think his greatest quality, and it's something you can't teach, is his competitive spirit » Lakers coach Darvin Ham paid tribute to him. “ He does positive things all the time. He always tries to look out for his teammates, to do the right thing for himself or others. And defensively, he's there for chasedowns, to change shots, to block them, to grab big rebounds. But these two intangibles, staying with this spirit and doing the actions that win matches, that's what impresses me the most. »
His name next to… Michael Jordan!
Winning is what Victor Wembanyama was more concerned about than his stat line. “Wemby” became the second player in history to string together two games with five interceptions and five blocks, after Michael Jordan in February 1987. I wonder if he did it during victories » sighed the Habs. “ When it comes to defeats, for me, it’s secondary. I hope that in the future I can look back and see these performances again. But for today, I can't be satisfied. »
Wembanyama now hopes “ be able to play more, have more minutes to help the team » after being the author of the fastest five-by-five in history in just 31 minutes of play. « It's something that we have to see as a team, with the coaches, the medical staff. »
