Wemby has one personal project left before the Spurs can conquer the West

There's no secret about who Victor Wembanyama's biggest and only boogeyman is in the NBA. Nikola Jokic averages 37 points against the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year—nine more than his 2025-26 average. That's not an accident. The Joker takes the fight to the Spurs' walking rim deterrent like none other, and Wemby needs to figure out how to flip the script.

Denver's franchise star is 5-2 head-to-head against Wembanyama. Vic missed three of San Antonio's four meetings with the Nuggets last season, but the Silver and Black lost the game he did play. Jokic has beaten Wemby the last two times they've played and scored at least 40 points in their last three matchups.

Jokic is the one guy who keeps solving Wemby

There are people who still believe the Spurs dodged a bullet during the playoffs when the Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets in the first round. As silly as that sounds, despite them being knocked out by a team that didn't have Anthony Edwards in the last few games of the series, the overall narrative is what I'm concerned about.

If Wemby is going to be that guy, there can't be one guy who has his number this demonstrably, even if he's the greatest offensive player of the generation. Even in narrative. You can't be the GOAT if everyone thinks another great is better. It's actually pretty fundamental to the argument. Not to mention the fact that the Spurs will eventually need to go through teams like Denver to win the West again.

Wembanyama has already evolved into a player who can rival Jokic's overall impact when you factor in his defensive dominance. His bounce-back game during Team France's FIBA exhibition game against Serbia in August reinforced that. Winning more in his NBA matchups against the Joker should be next on his list.

Their last meeting was an exhilarating overtime game in April where Jokic scored 40 points and secured the victory with a clutch Sombor Shuffle—the Joker's signature shot—over the outstretched hand of the Alien. It was one of the Spurs' three losses to the Nuggets, and even though Wemby only played in one, losing it adds to the belief, real or not, that Denver is San Antonio's weakness.

This should be a priority for Wemby and the Spurs

This isn't only about Wemby's individual battle with Jokic, though. The Spurs must fight their way through the Western Conference again. Denver seems to be the team most capable of making Wembanyama uncomfortable, so the Nuggets represent a potential roadblock to everything SA wants to achieve.

Wemby needs to make this his personal project. He bites on too many of Jokic's pump fakes, gets closer than he should when guarding the skilled center on the perimeter, and too often lets Nikola dictate the matchup. That's still part of his youth showing up, but it can be fixed by settling down and playing a more disciplined game.

The Serbian big man is a tremendous offensive player, so Vic shouldn't be expected to completely stop him, but averaging 37 points is just outrageous and borderline disrespectful to the legacy Wembanyama is trying to build. Nikola says all of the right things about the uniquely skilled Slenderman but gives him the business when they meet on the hardwood.

It needs to stop.

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