Victor Wembanyama's 43-point explosion showed a little bit of everything Spurs fans begged for

Spurs fans everywhere should be smiling ear to ear after San Antonio packed the Timberwolves up. Not because they won the game—it was closer than it should have been up until it wasn't—but because the Silver and Black seem to have finally unlocked the level of Victor Wembanyama lob dominance that basketball fiends dreamt about ever since the 2023 NBA draft lottery.

Wemby posted a season-high 43 points. He also shot a career-high 34 times (and made 17 of them), but the majority of his buckets came exactly where they should: in the paint. As Mitch Johnson told San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald postgame, the Halloween King played "with his teammates," and those teammates found him all night because of it.

He screened, rolled hard, stayed connected, spaced the floor, and made himself available when an outlet was needed. It was a tour de force in the best possible way because Wembanyama showed the entire package. Threes were drilled, midrange shots were taken, and destruction in the paint was constant.

Wembanyama's evolution is right on track

This player is a rare breed with abilities we've never seen before on the kind of frame he has at 7'4". That sometimes leads us to want the finished product now. He's already able to do so much, so why can't he do everything right all of the time? But the reality is that he's still only 22 years old. The Alien is already processing faster than a young player should, but he's not close to his peak yet.

That's the gift and the curse of being such a singular star.

But Vic doesn't run from the expectations. He already has them for himself, and if the guy towering over everyone else with an eight-foot wingspan sets the bar that high, nobody else's opinions matter. That's a good thing. It means he'll look in the mirror way before he blames anyone else for his shortcomings.

The Spurs’ MVP case for Wembanyama is building fast

Wemby has clearly put in the work to fix his weaknesses. It's the whole evolutionary process for a legend in the making, and it's what Coach Johnson was referring to after the game when I asked him about Wemby's maturation.

“We’ve seen a young man over 3+ years now who has matured physically, he’s matured emotionally, he’s matured mentally, he’s put a lot of hard work in, and when you have the talent and the God-given ability that he has... the game slowing down for him, whether that’s pattern recognition over time or just anticipation... When they have that recipe, you just see these jumps in improvement.” - Mitch Johnson

That's a long quote, but it was a good one.

Over the past few games, Wembanyama has shown his work. Critics were loudly wondering what he worked on over the summer. The answer to that is probably: some of everything. This is what it looks like when it comes together. His 43-point outburst moved him into the top five in points per game (28.0). Only Luka Doncic, Tyrese Maxey, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are higher.

Throw in the earth-shattering defense he plays, and that MVP is as good as won at this rate. The voters want more scoring; they're getting more scoring. That really sucks for the rest of the league.

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