Former NBA Shooting Guard Lou Williams recently gave his take on San Antonio Spurs Center Victor Wembanyama’s first career 50-point performance against the Washington Wizards in a 139-130 win at AT&T Center on Wednesday night. San Antonio improved to 6-6, while Washington fell to 2-8, as of Wednesday. Wembanyama, 20, added six rebounds and two rebounds. Wembanyama’s stat line included three blocks on 18-of-29 shooting and 8-of-16 from beyond the three-point line. Nobody should be surprised that Williams, 38, commented on the French basketball star.
After the 50-point performance, Wembanyama became the tallest NBA player to hit eight three-pointers in a single game and the fourth-youngest NBA player to score 50 points. Some basketball fans quickly called Wembayama the next NBA GOAT (Greatest of All Time), while others were reserved to end the debate. Williams was one of those reserved individuals, so continue reading for further details surrounding Williams’ thoughts.
Lou Williams’ Recent Take
Lou Williams’ recent take regarding Victor Wembanyama has been up for debate, depending on how one views Wembanyama. Wembanyama’s NBA career got off to a good, if not great, start after the San Antonio Spurs selected the Le Chesnay, France, native with the first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. Previously, the French big man played for Nanterre 92, ASVEL, and Metropolitans 92 — all of whom are based in France.
Wembanyama’s only 20 years old, but a basketball phenomenon around the world. Wembanyama solidified his de-facto status with his 50-point performance, which was a big deal for some people. But, at the same time, some other people weren’t completely sold on the 7-foot-3, 235-lb big man, such as Williams, who seems to hesitate to comment on the topic at hand.
Lou Williams wasn’t sold on the 50 points on FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back.” Williams spoke of Wembanyama, “Amazing performance … But when you talk about the greatest of all time, I think about the bodies of work. I think about championships, I think about impact on the organizations, impact on the city that you have. He’s still building, he’s still getting there. We haven’t even seen him in the playoffs yet. We haven’t seen a deep playoff run. He hasn’t even scratched the surface of the things he’s gonna be capable of doing throughout his career. Putting him in [the GOAT] conversation is very premature, but he’s done a great job of putting us on notice early on.”
Whether one is a fan of Williams or not doesn’t matter. Williams’ take on Wembanyama had a great point. Wembanyama’s so talented, and there was a reason why he was one of the most hyped-up prospects of all time heading into the 2023 NBA Draft. However, Wembanyama is just 20 years old — and has room for improvement in his overall development before entering any NBA GOAT conversations.
Wembanyama This Season
Aside from the impressive 50-point performance, Victor Wembanyama has been impressing the public in the young NBA season. Wembanyama showed out with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and nine blocks in the San Antonio Spurs’ 113-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on November 4, 2024. In general, Wembanyama is averaging 22.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 47.1% from the field goal line at the time of writing.
Lou Williams wants to make sure people remain level-headed during Wenbanyama’s development in his NBA journey. It’s important to remember that Wenbanyama can achieve early-career success and fall victim to becoming an injury-prone player later in his career. Nobody wants to become injury-prone, but Wenbanyama’s height and joint health could make him more prone to injuries.
About Lou Williams
Despite never winning an NBA championship, Lou Williams is arguably one of the best guards of all time. Williams’ overall scoring ability and clutch plays helped him become a fan favorite slowly but surely. The Memphis-born, Atlanta-bred former star was a three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2015, 2018, and 2019 during his 17-year career in the NBA.
Williams’ career had ups and downs, but his four-year tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly helped him redeem himself for his shortcomings. Williams scored a season-high 42 points in the Clippers’ 120-115 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on November 27, 2017. The South Gwinnett High School (Snellville, Georgia) alum surpassed Dell Curry’s record for most career games off the bench in February 2022.
