Even one of the Spurs' biggest rivals had to admit Wembanyama is inevitable

Spurs fans have a well-deserved adversarial relationship with James Harden. He was a key reason San Antonio couldn't finish off OKC in the 2012 Western Conference Finals despite beginning that series up 2-0. He then joined the Houston Rockets and led them back to relevance. They went to the playoffs all nine years he was there, making them a perennial pain in the Spurs' backside.

Now a member of the LA Clippers, the Spurs will see Harden for the second time this season in the upcoming week, and The Beard was asked about Victor Wembanyama. The Alien has been on fire recently, and even San Antonio's longtime rival had to bend the knee to the NBA's next superstar.

The league will belong to Wembanyama sooner than we thought

The Rookie of the Year will likely win the Western Conference Player of the Month award for his December performance. He has been that good. There are a few players who have averaged more points—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, and Luka Doncic—but none of them come close to the defensive impact Wemby has.

His complete package is why players ranging from James Harden to Josh Hart rave about why the league is in good hands.

Wembanyama's preseason projections had him averaging 26.5 points and 12.5 rebounds, according to FanDuel. He's currently at 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds. He's been improving as the season progresses, raising his production each month. Starting from October through December, the Alien has gone from 18.2 to 25.7 to 28.1.

The season is still young, and he's already exceeding the high expectations placed on him, so it would be foolish to believe that he's reached his sophomore peak. We've seen him drop 50 and have two 40-point games this year, and it still feels like there are things he can implement immediately to improve his output, like getting to the free throw line, for example.

The 7'4 Frenchman only averages 4.3 free throw attempts per game despite shooting a third of his shots within 10 feet of the basket. He's shooting 88.4% from the charity stripe, so it would certainly benefit him to draw more fouls. To be fair, officiating has been questionable, to say the least, since the start of the season, and it hasn't improved much.

Regardless of what the zebras do, Wembanyama has been finding more ways to impact winning, and that's exactly what the Spurs wanted to see this year. They'll need him more than ever as they enter the toughest stretch of basketball they'll face all season.