Victor Wembanyama names the toughest players to defend in the NBA

The rookie sensation, Victor Wembanyama finished his first year playing in the best league in the world. San Antonio Spurs' gem has had a fantastic season, both on offense and surprisingly, on defense as well, being in the discussion for the Defensive Player of the Year award. In a recent interview, Wemby shared which players made him work the most.

Recently, Wemby was in 'The Ringer' podcast, and when he was asked about the hardest players to guard, his answer wasn't totally a surprise:

"Kevin Durant is up there, Jokic as well, even though after each game I’ve played him I feel like I defended him better and better, and read his game better and better. But I mean I just know he’s gonna come next year with new weapons, new tricks," said the 20-year-old phenom. Against the Joker, Victor registered 34 and 33 points.

Joel Embiid was one of the players that gave Wembanyama the most problems on defense, dropping 70 points on Wemby's 33. Did he came up with a strategy to guard him? Lets find out:

"No I really don’t want to say it, I think it’s simpler than you might expect. What didn’t work was, Embiid’s midrange is just so great at the nail that you have to choose what you want him to do. You have to give him some options and deny. Something I didn’t do was be the first to make the contact. One time he like bumped into me and like with the momentum I can’t stop him so he just had an easy dunk."

Victor started the season after being one of the most hyped selections in the NBA Draft. He always met the expectations. However, since February, Wemby started to really fluorish, surpassing what everyone anticipated about him. His job on defense was gigantic, he was an absolute threat near the rim. Attacking players had to change their shots, lowing their effectiveness. He moves fluently and has a great sense to position himself to be able to block shots.

Victor Wembanyama finished the 2023-24 campaign with averages of 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 steals on 46.5% shooting from the field.