Shaq's message to Victor Wembanyama that should make him 'upset'

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Among the many storylines that basketball fans will be keeping an eye on as the 2024-25 NBA season begins, the continued evolution of San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is one that will be at the top of everyone’s list. Wembanyama cruised to a unanimous Rookie of the Year win last season, and is widely expected to be in the mix for an All-NBA inclusion in his second NBA season.

But there is one prominent and rather large member of the NBA media who apparently still has his doubts about the French superstar.

Shaq hopes ranking Wemby as No. 31 best player this season ‘upsets him’

Listen to the full message pic.twitter.com/42bkUhkE9B

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 18, 2024

Shaquille O’Neal’s decision to rank Wemby as the 31st-best player in the NBA is criminally low compared to where many media outlets that are ranking the league’s best players have the Spurs’ rookie. ClutchPoints’ own Brett Siegel had Wembanyama 13th on his list, and ESPN’s panel of voters slotted Wemby in just outside of the top ten at No. 11. But the

ta”I hope this upsets him,” added O’Neal. “As the reigning Lord Supreme of the Big Man Alliance, I hope all the big men who feel I slighted them, I hope this upsets you. Aren’t you tired of the guards getting all the credit, big men? Well, do something about it.”

Ever since he retired after the 2010-11 season, Shaquille O’Neal has made a habit of dissing many of the league’s best big men. He could say that it’s meant to be a means of motivation, and it very well could be, but oftentimes it doesn’t come off that way. In this case, it does seem that Shaq wants to help push Victor Wembanyama to the next level.

Spurs banking on big leap from Victor Wembanyama in year two

Shaq claims that he’s been in Victor Wembanyama’s shoes before, and if that’s true, than Wemby could soon leave no doubt in any analysts’ mind that he’s one of the game’s very best players.

“I was Victor Wembanyama before him – You come in, they expect you to turn things around,” said O’Neal. “You have a lot of pressure in you and a lot of hype coming in. Our first year, we went 41-41. I think we were 19, 20 games better than the year before. And the next year, substantially better. Then the third year, we got Horace Grant, where we made it to the Finals and got swept by Kenny (Smith) but it was a great four years there.”

During the 1993-94 season, Shaquille O’Neal and the Magic were playing in a so-so Eastern Conference that had been severely weakened by the departure of Michael Jordan. But even statistically, Shaq made a noticeable leap from year one to year two, seeing his scoring average go from 23 to 29 points per game while his field goal percentage improved from 56 percent during his rookie campaign to a league-leading 60 percent in year two.

Spurs fans will be hoping for a similar leap from Victor Wembanyama this year, even if a trip to the postseason isn’t in the cards. The Western Conference is just too deep and too talented for San Antonio to have realistic expectations of a Playoff appearance, but they shouldn’t temper their hopes that Wembanyama will ascend even higher than he did last season.

Victor Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.6 blocks per game during his rookie season. He finished as the runner-up to Rudy Gobert in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and let’s just be real, Wemby was robbed. But even as the season progressed last year, Wembanyama looked more and more comfortable, and as a result, more and more dominant. Just look at Wembanyama’s numbers during the first half of his rookie year compared to the second half:

First 35 games – 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 3.1 blocks, 46/29/81 shooting splits

Final 36 games – 23.0 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 4.0 blocks, 47/35/79 shooting splits

So much for the rookie wall, huh? The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama stepped right over that sucker. And based on everything we’ve seen from this kid, there’s no reason to believe that any sort of setback or wall too high is coming his way.

The post Shaq’s message to Victor Wembanyama that should make him ‘upset’ appeared first on ClutchPoints.