Spurs' Mitch Johnson explains why Victor Wembanyama is already revolutionizing basketball
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Spurs' Mitch Johnson explains why Victor Wembanyama is already revolutionizing basketball originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The greatest form of flattery has always been imitation. This is why insanely talented players have moves that echo throughout the world after they debut it in the NBA. Victor Wembanyama is different. The San Antonio Spurs big man has now become the blueprint for how young big men play the game. Coach Mitch Johnson is seeing this happen in real time prior to their NBA Finals bout with the New York Knicks.
Spurs' Johnson knows Wembanyama is revolutionizing basketball already
A lot of players who changed the game have already been immortalized in league history, whether they are still active or retired. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry were the catalysts for why the three-point line has become an important part of an NBA team's offense. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were one of the first modern stretch big men who nearly played every position.
Victor Wembanyama is slowly joining this list. The seven-foot-four big man from the Spurs system can stretch the floor, play defense against the smallest of guards to the bulkiest of big men, and make himself effective off the ball. It's not hard to see why Coach Mitch Johnson knows that his rising star is already changing the game of basketball. He explained why the Spurs superstar was already being emulated all over the world and it will change how the next generation of hoopers train, via John Hollinger of The Athletic.
“Yeah, the game is changing in front of our eyes. Those guys are probably at the forefront of that evolution of the game. You’d get a tall kid and tell him you’re supposed to screen and then play underneath the basket," the Spurs head coach said. "And now they get to watch those guys, and who’s to say that’s where you should play, put them in a box. So, it’s pretty cool to see those guys play fundamentally, see them also modernizing the game in that regard."
It is also not just Wembanyama who plays like this. The Oklahoma City Thunder have found much success through Chet Holmgren, the Minnesota Timberwolves have already made deep Western Conference Finals runs with Naz Reid, and other players in the league are slowly adding a shot from the perimeter. Heck, even Andre Drummond spaces the floor well already.
Gone are the days that a big man will always solely be a screener and rebounder. They are now very much capable to moving like a guard and being able to space out the floor to open up more schemes for their coaches. The Spurs' alien is clearly just the face of this revolution or invasion, much like how Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird were.