“Shaq Was Human”: NBA Exec Explains Why Victor Wembanyama Will be a Problem For Next 15 Years

Being tall is just a small part of the recipe for becoming a dominant NBA player. An athlete also needs the work ethic, the raw skill, and the right support system to become great, and it seems Victor Wembanyama has them all.

The 7-foot-4 French star is still in the early stages of his career, and already, he's showing signs of greatness. It appears he has unlimited upside, and even a rival executive believes that the San Antonio Spurs will be unstoppable for a very long time with him as their star.

At only 22 years old, Wemby is already a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate. In fact, if it weren't for the injuries in his sophomore season, he'd already have two. Aside from that, he's also already creeping into the MVP conversation.

Opposing defenses are left scratching their heads in trying to find ways to contain him, and there rarely seems to be an answer. He can score from nearly anywhere on the court, dribble, and pass. Even when he's having an off shooting night, he can still disrupt opposing defenses with his size and athleticism.

Preparing for him can be such a nightmare that this rival executive placed him above Shaquille O'Neal in terms of handling them on the court.

"He's a problem from the halfcourt and there's just no one like that," the executive said. His statement highlights Wemby's ability to break down defenses with his ball-handling or to space the floor with his shooting touch. Abilities that are normally prevalent in sub-7-footers.

"At least Shaq was human in the sense that you needed three centers to bang with him," the exec added. "You've got 18 fouls to work with, Maybe one was skilled, and the other two could hold him up while the other guys get rest. But there's no archetype like Wembanyama, no player ever. It's a problem, and it's going to be a problem for 15 years."

The scary part for rival teams is that Wembanyama is still only developing. Somehow, he's already a nightmare to play against in the playoffs, where the lights are the brightest.

Victor Wembanyama is Rewriting Spurs Playoff History With His Defense

Victor Wembanyama's length and athleticism were almost a guarantee that his presence alone would wreak havoc on defense. However, the rate at which he's setting himself up as an all-time great defender is impressive.

To give context to that, Wemby is only in the first-ever playoff run of his career. In total, he's only played in 12 postseason games so far. Yet, in only 12 games, he's already cracked the San Antonio Spurs' all-time playoff blocks list with 48 rejections.

Those 48 career playoff blocks place him right at number 10, just behind George Gervin, who recorded 51 rejections over 57 playoff games for the Spurs. At his current pace, Wembanyama might crack the top five this year already.

In ascending order, there's Mike Green with 52, Kawhi Leonard with 55, Bruce Bowen with 58, and Robert Horry with 60. Wemby only needs 12 more rejections to crack the top five, and he's already shown that he can get that exact number in a single game.

On May 4, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he rejected 12 shots. That performance also set the record for most blocks in a playoff game, surpassing the 10 shared by Mark Eaton, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Andrew Bynum.