AD says that once Wembanyama gets bigger and stronger, the league will be in trouble.
Anthony Davis says Wemby was the toughest player he played against this season: "Once he grows into his body and gets strong, it's gonna be a problem"

Los Angeles Lakers superstar center Anthony Davis is coming off his healthiest season ever. AD played a career-high 76 games this season while ending up on the All-NBA second team and All-Defensive first team.

During his recent interview on the Join the Lobby podcast, the Lakers’ big man talked about the past campaign. And when he was asked about which player was the toughest cover for him, the 9-time NBA All-Star pointed at 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.

“He’s really like that,” said AD. “I mean, like I said, you see overseas, I don’t want to say the competition is it, what the league is, but the stuff that he was doing just like…and he’s small, so people like oh he won’t do that in the league. He’s too small.”

Many were skeptical about Wemby’s frame

Before Wemby played his first NBA game, many were skeptical about how his reed-thin frame would hold during the long and rough 82-game NBA regular season. His critics also wondered how Victor would do against top-flight competition.

But right from the get-go, the Frenchman looked like he was NBA-ready. Not only was he ready to play in the big boys’ league, but he also played like he was ready to dominate in it right from the jump.

“I remember playing him the first time in San Antonio, and we were going at it,” added AD. “I think he ended up having like 30 and I had like, 40. Like literally we were going at it…Then when they came to LA and played us, I think he had San Antonio’s first 12 points or something. Like 7-4, 7-3, that can handle, can shoot it. And like once he grows into his body and gets strong, it’s gonna be a problem…Wemby, he like that.”

Rookie of the Year and other accolades

Wembanyama played 71 games as an NBA rookie. With a superb freshman campaign, he rewrote many NBA records. Statistically, Wemby put up a double-double average of 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game and won the 2024 NBA ROY award.

The freak of nature also led the NBA in blocked shots at 3.6 and finished second behind Rudy Gobert in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. He was also named to the NBA All-Defensive first team along with AD.

If both stay healthy next season, we’re going to see AD and Wemby square off a couple of times during the 2024-25 campaign. And just as Davis said, the longer Wemby stays in the league, the more dominant he will become. It will be interesting to see how much better Victor will be in Year 2.