{"id":412939,"date":"2025-11-15T19:32:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T19:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/412939\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T19:32:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T19:32:17","slug":"spurs-star-victor-wembanyama-has-the-nba-playoffs-in-mind-itll-be-a-tall-order-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/412939\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has the NBA playoffs in mind. It’ll be a tall order"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Victor Wembanyama has a new height<\/a>. He’s thinking about new heights.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama \u2014 healthy again after deep vein thrombosis forced doctors to end<\/a> his 2024-25 season two months early \u2014 starts Year 3 with the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday when they visit the Dallas Mavericks. It’s a matchup of top picks; Wembanyama went No. 1 in 2023, the Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg was No. 1 this year.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama knows the Western Conference is loaded. He wants a playoff spot anyway and thinks the Spurs are good enough to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward to this very much,\u201d the 21-year-old Wembanyama said. \u201cIt’s definitely the next step in many of our careers. Me and my teammates, we’re all eyes on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French star even put a number on what he would define a successful season: Wembanyama wants the No. 6 seed, at minimum. The meaning there is obvious, in that he wants the Spurs to finish the regular season with a guaranteed postseason spot and not have to fight through the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

Only the top six finishers in each conference are assured of playoff spots, while the teams that finish No. 7 through No. 10 have to go the play-in route.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess would be getting to the playoffs and not the play-in,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cThat means sixth seed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was the rookie of the year in 2023-24 and a defensive player of the year frontrunner last season before the thrombosis was found. He was averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 blocks and 3.7 assists per game when he was shut down in February; the only other player in NBA history to finish a season averaging all that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t ever recall a player who has so much influence on both ends of the floor,\u201d said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, who added that he feels fortunate the Pacers and Spurs aren’t in the same conference.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama can finish. Can shoot from outside. Can pass. Can handle the ball. He is generally considered the league’s best defensive player. And for this season, he’s added bulk as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just watch in disbelief,\u201d Carlisle said.<\/p>\n

And Wemby is only going to get even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sometimes is the difficulty, when you have to temper the excitement, expectations and imagination of where he can go,\u201d Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. \u201cI think all of us probably in some way were still maturing or evolving physically at 19, 20, 21, especially if you\u2019re an athlete. … That, along with his game, along with his mind, is going to continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of growing, there’s also the constant question of Wembanyama’s height. It’s a mystery, other than the obvious answer \u2014 that being, he’s really, really, really, really tall.<\/p>\n

He was, officially, 7-foot-3 as a rookie. He’s now 7-foot-4, at least on paper. Some said he actually was 7-foot-5 when he left France, and former NBA player Boban Marjanovic thinks Wembanyama might be even taller than that now.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way I’m taller than him,\u201d the 7-foot-4 Marjanovic said on ESPN last week.<\/p>\n

Officially, the tallest player in the league last season was Memphis’ Zach Edey \u2014 listed at 7-foot-4. There’s no reason to think that height isn’t accurate. But when Wembanyama and Edey are side by side, it sure seems like the Spurs’ center might be the taller one.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us are close, so it\u2019s all a guess,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI got no clue. I have to stand on this chair and get the measuring stick, so I know he\u2019s taller than me \u2014 7-something.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Wembanyama knows the precise number, he’s not saying. But the fascination with it amuses him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years it\u2019s become a non-subject to me,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cBecause in my opinion, there\u2019s so many more interesting things about me. … The truth is, sometimes I\u2019m surprised there\u2019s still a conversation because in my mind, it doesn\u2019t really make a difference. I’m taller than everybody else. That’s all you need to know.”<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nba<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Victor Wembanyama has a new height. He’s thinking about new heights. Wembanyama \u2014 healthy again…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17511,3376,17512,17510,2097,7,6,11],"class_list":{"0":"post-412939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-ap-online-sports-headlines","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-ap-top-news-l-twc-regions","11":"tag-ap-top-news-sports","12":"tag-associated-press","13":"tag-basketball","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-nba-playoffs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115555384945906274","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}