Victor Wembanyama put together one of the greatest seasons in Spurs history in 2025-26, but coach Mitch Johnson believes the 22-year-old French superstar has a “ton of room to improve in all aspects.”
“Offensively, one thing for him will just be to continue to manipulate and dictate the game,” Johnson said. “Not just by scoring, but by making plays for his teammates, forcing the defense to make a decision and taking advantages of opportunities in front of him and probably continuing to connect those throughout the game, where he’s almost puppeteering the game as we see the best players in our game do and we’ve seen him do.”
Advertisement
Wembanyama averaged a career-high 25.0 points, a career-best 11.5 rebounds and a league-high 3.1 blocks in his third NBA season on his way to becoming the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-NBA choice and the third-place finisher in MVP voting.
Despite the shortened offseason after the Spurs reached the Finals last season, where they lost in five games to New York, Wembanyama indicated he’s primed for another outstanding season.
“I never played so many games,” he said after logging nearly 90 last season, including 22 in the postseason.
Still, he’s entering the season primed physically to dominate from the start.
Advertisement
“What I’ve noticed in the summer is that my baseline has increased and I’m in a better shape than I could have expected right now, even though the summer was short,” he said. “So it doesn’t mean I pushed myself less conditioning-wise in the summer, but yeah, I kept experiencing some different ways to condition.”
One of those “different ways” came when he and teammate Harrison Barnes trained with pro rugby club Provence Rugby in Aix-en-Provence, France, after they worked out together with several other Spurs players in Paris.
“It was a great experience seeing the kind of team spirit they have over there, very inspiring,” Wembanyama said of the rugby team. “The relationships between teammates and coaches and fans. It was so interesting for me. The training itself was really hard. I think it was really good for the vestibular system and new movement patterns and new ways to develop strength as well.
“But honestly, I’m more grateful for the experience in itself and how I was welcomed there. I’ve never been welcomed like this anywhere. I’m not part of the team and it treated me like I was. So amazing spirit.”
Advertisement
Spurs forward Tobias Harris hasn’t been around Wembanyama long, but that didn’t stop him from singling out the 7-foot-4 All-Star center for high praise.
“He’s the most talented player in the NBA, his size, his skillset and just his curiosity for learning,” Harris said. “And I’ve only been around for the amount of time that I’ve been signed, but I think when people ask me about him, I always say, ‘Listen, I’ve been in this league for 16 years. Going into my 16th season, I have not seen a guy work as hard as he works.’
Harris, who signed a two-year, $31 million deal with the Spurs in July, said Wembanyama’s work ethic sets the tone for the rest of the team.
“And when you look at the success of this group and this team, when your best guys and the guys that are the hardest workers, it makes life a whole lot easier.”
There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at How much better can the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama be this season?.
