Victor Wembanyama’s offensive shift is showing up in all the right places early this season, and the clearest sign is where his shots are coming from. Instead of living on the perimeter, the Spurs’ rising star is making a much bigger habit of going straight to the basket.
After San Antonio’s win over the Kings, Wembanyama explained the mindset behind the change to Maxime Aubin with a Bruce Lee quote: "Bruce Lee fears the man who has repeated one kick 1,000 times, and not 1,000 different kicks once." The message is simple enough: trim the extra noise, read the defense, and stick with what works.
That approach is reflected in the numbers. Through five games, 45.9% of Wembanyama’s field goal attempts have come in the restricted area, per NBA.com.
That’s 45 of his 98 shots, and it’s a career high by a wide margin. Last season, that figure was 35.7%.
It was 24.2% the year before, and 33.4% as a rookie.
The results have followed. San Antonio is 3-2, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 25 points and 11.4 rebounds while shooting 48%.
The dunk volume tells the same story. Per Basketball-Reference, Wembanyama has tried to dunk on 28.6% of his field goal attempts, up from his previous best of 18.1% last season. He has made 25 of his 28 dunk tries.
That isn’t accidental. Wembanyama is deliberately tightening up his offensive package and building around the parts of his game that put the most pressure on a defense. More of his touches are ending near the rim, and that naturally changes the geometry for everyone around him.
That doesn’t mean he should stop shooting threes. He won’t, and he shouldn’t.
A 7-foot-4 center launching from deep is part of what makes him so hard to guard. But the shot selection needs to be smarter, and right now it is.
Only 29.6% of his attempts are coming from behind the arc, down from 32.4% last season.
For now, Wembanyama is cutting down the extras and leaning into the moves that can become routine. He’s still figuring out what fits, still building strength, still sharpening the same actions until they become automatic.
And that is exactly what the Spurs want to see. So do everyone else, except the teams trying to stop him.
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