Video: Wemby Calls Out Some NBA Players for Not Doing ‘As Much Work as I Thought’

It took just one year in the NBA for San Antonio Spurs star big man Victor Wembanyama to lose his admiration for some of the players who had previously inspired him.

While speaking to Sports Illustrated (1:12 mark), Wembanyama was asked about the most surprising thing from his rookie season in the NBA and he responded, “How, in a good way, some of them are really impressive and inspiring in the way they approach the game every night, but others that I used to like and now it’s like, nah, I’m not sure that they deserve it. They don’t seem like they put in as much work as I thought.”

Wembanyama was unanimously selected as Rookie of the Year and quickly established himself as one of the best defensive players in the league last season, so it’s understandable that he was surprised to see how others had different approaches to trying to achieve greatness.

As he enters his sophomore season, the 20-year-old is expected to take a leap forward as the face of the Spurs franchise. The arrival of veteran point guard Chris Paul is also likely to benefit him in a big way.

Wembanyama seems to be prepared to put his opponents on notice that they will need to step their game up when they go up against him because he’s not impressed.

“Like I said, some of the guys I’ve been watching growing up, I’m not disappointed, but I’m like, ‘Ugh, that’s it?'” he added.