Never say Victor Wembanyama doesn’t know how to rebound.
One day after arguably the worst game of his career – in which he posted a career-low six points on 1-of-5 shooting plus eight rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in a loss to rival Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder. – the San Antonio Spurs star recorded his second 5×5 game.
Facing the Utah Jazz, Wembanyama had 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals, five blocks in a 106-88 win. Funnily enough, those were his first steals of the season, in his fifth game.
He also reported for duty on the historic night with a Halloween costume winner, if you know the movie “Spirited Away”.
A 5×5 game is much rarer than its cousin, the triple-double, to the point that Wembanyama is only the third player in NBA history to post multiple such games. Hakeem Olajuwon is the all-time leader with six in 1,238 games and is followed by Andrei Kirilenko with three in 797 games. Only 12 other players total registered one.
Wembanyama just played his 76th match. He released his first game in February, becoming the second rookie to do so.
The 5×5 feels like a stat made for Wembanyama to break down, just like Russell Westbrook did with the triple double. No player in NBA history has the Frenchman’s combination of length, agility and ball skills, and that means he’s a threat to hit five blocks and five steals, the hard parts of the feat, if he’s active enough on defense.
