Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama’s historic career-best performance Wednesday night came after he spent the past few days battling a virus.
“I haven’t been feeling great lately,” the 22-year-old Frenchman said after posting a career-high 52 points, a career-best 24 rebounds (a career-best nine on the offensive end), eight blocks, two assists and two steals in 34 minutes of the Spurs’ 112-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
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“I’ve been sick for a while,” Wembanyama added.
Fortunately for the Spurs, who needed their franchise cornerstone to excel on a night Devin Vassell, De’Aaron Fox and Julian Champagnie shot a combined 3 of 24 from the field and 0 of 12 from 3-point range, Wembanyama entered the game feeling better.
“Today, I felt like I got my legs back, so it should be more like this, more often,” he said. “I am still (sick), but I don’t have the weakness anymore, you know, when you get a virus.”
Despite the illness, Wembanyama became just the second player in NBA history with 50-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and eight-plus blocks in a single game. He joined Wilt Chamberlain, who did it several times in the 1960s.
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“He’s basically Wilt,” Spurs guard Dylan Harper, who finished with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
“That’s truly a dominant game,” said Fox, who finished with 10 points and four assists and came up big defensively in the final seconds with the game on the line with some strong defense against Kyrie Irving.
The Spurs improved to 6-2 with their sixth win in a row. They are set to fly to Sacramento on Thursday to begin a four-game road trip against the Kings on Friday night.
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This article originally published at Wemby overcame virus to enjoy career night in Spurs’ win over Mavericks.
