NBA

Joel Embiid has the ultimate advice for Victor Wembanyama

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid shared some much-needed knowledge with San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama.

Victor Wembanyama before a game with the San Antonio Spurs.
Ā© Sam Hodde/Getty ImagesVictor Wembanyama before a game with the San Antonio Spurs.

We have never seen a prospect like Victor Wembanyama. He’s arguably the most hyped prospect in NBA history, and he couldn’t have chosen a better landing spot than the San Antonio Spurs.

You know Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan will have him under their wings. They’ll protect him, spoon-feed him, and allow him to develop into the two-way phenom everybody thinks he can be, assuming he can stay healthy.

Wembanyama has been the most impressive rookie in the league thus far, leading his class in points and rebounds per game, and all players in blocks per game (3.0).

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However, that hasn’t translated into winning basketball, and knowing how hard it might be to shake off losing habits, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid shared some knowledge with him.

Victor Wembanyama Spurs

Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs

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Embiid Says Wembanyama Needs To Figure Himself Out

The reigning MVP believes the most important thing for Wembanyama will be to figure out what kind of player he wants to be, whether he’s going to be a shooting guard in a big man’s body or a bruiser:

ā€œI think, first of all, he has to figure out where he wants to play, whether he wants to be a guard or a big or whatever,ā€ Embiid said. ā€œIt’s not necessarily whether he wants to be a guard or a big; it’s what he wants to become. Do you want to become KD, or do you want to become me? Not KD, or like a version of those guys — you want to combine everything.ā€

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Embiid admits Wembanyama’s game still needs a ton of polishing. However, he doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing because he’s just a rookie learning the ropes of the game:

ā€œRight now, I just feel like everything kind of feels a little forced, in the way that he’s playing,ā€ Embiid said. ā€œWhich is not bad. Because the only way to get better is to play through it and learn. That’s the only way. You make a lot of mistakes, and you learn.ā€

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Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid

He Has To Learn From His Mistakes

Embiid also likes the fact that he’s getting a long leash on his own team. That way he’ll be able to learn from his mistakes and keep getting a little better with every single game:

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ā€œThe one thing that I’m happy about is they’re allowing him to make those mistakes, and learn from it,ā€ continued Embiid. ā€œBut I just think there’s a good and bad in that. The good of it is you learn through your mistakes. But then again, the bad of it is, you know, it just feels a little forced. Like, some of the shots. He can make it easy on himself.ā€

At the end of the day, we don’t know what Wembanyama could look like as a finished product simply because we have never seen a player like him. But judging by the early returns and his unicorn-like skill set, it’s easy to understand why so many scouts thought he could become the greatest player in NBA history.

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