Chris Paul is very old-school in a lot of ways, and he expects Victor Wembanyama to fix an emerging NBA trend.
Chris Paul, since taking over as the floor general for the Lob City LA Clippers, has been one of the most vocal and best leaders in the NBA.
His stints later in his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns are indicative of his leadership abilities and played a big reason into the San Antonio Spurs signing him to a one-year deal.
Last season, it was clear that Victor Wembanyama was indeed a transformative prospect, but the Spurs needed a true point guard to get him the ball. Wembanyama and Paul have formed a friendship both on and off the court.
While Wembanyama is an elite offensive player, his true talent and potential lie in his defense. In his rookie season, he came in second to Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year and was the runaway favorite to win DPOTY this season before being shut down with a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis.
As the league shifts away from an emphasis on defense, Wemby will be tasked with dragging the Association kicking and screaming back to putting the priority on stopping instead of scoring.
During his 19-season career, Paul has amassed more steals and assists than anyone not named John Stockton, led the league in steals six times, and made nine All-Defensive Teams, seven times on the First Team.
However, his lasting legacy in pop culture is as a mentor to Devin Booker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and as Blake Griffin’s running mate. His defensive prowess, it seems, has been forgotten.
“My teammates, I’m always talking to them about defense,” Paul revealed in an interview with Taylor Rooks. “I got a lot of younger teammates now that I ask them about defense or whatnot. I’ll ask them if they think I’ve ever made any All-Defensive teams.
And they’d be like, no. And I’d be like, it’s actually nine, nine times.”
The Spurs are trying to build a defensive identity. Not only is Wembanyama the best shot-blocker in the league, but recent draft picks Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan are expected to be on-ball pests. Devin Vassell has allowed his defense to take a back seat in recent seasons, but when he was drafted in 2020 his defense was expected to be better than his offense.
By trading for “Swipa” De’Aaron Fox before the trade deadline, the Spurs just added to their defensive emphasis, or as much as they can in the modern NBA, which has placed high-effort defense on the back burner.
When Wembanyama was preparing to enter the league as a teenager before the 2023 NBA Draft, fans and experts would look at his highlight tape. He could handle the ball like a guard despite being 7-foot-4, he could shoot from seemingly anywhere, and his passing looked better than advertised. However, the main draw was his uncanny reflexes on the defensive end.
How can you score on someone taller than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the quick hands of Chris Paul? Simply put, you can’t, and he entered the league as a 19-year-old and was already one of the best defenders in the world.
Paul thinks that Wembanyama is everything the league has missed.
“It’s just something that I actually hate about the game now that it gets overlooked,” said Paul of the modern state of NBA defenses. “Everything is about the analytics and all that instead of, like, taking pride in defense and defending. And I’ve always had respect for guys who’ve done that. Guys like Tony Allen, guys like T.J. McConnell, who every night picks up full court. It’s really hard to play defense night in and night out.”
While he is never in a position to play a full-court press, Wembanyama understands the importance of defense and is developing into one of the smarter defenders and players in the league.
“Vic knows everything,” Paul finished. “He knows all the stuff that I feel like he’s not supposed to know. But that’s what makes him unique, right? And in a league that has gotten extremely young and everyone’s on their phones and on social media, Vic comes in the training room with his book.”
Sure, Wembanyama is a brand ambassador for giants like Nike and Louis Vuitton, but it seems like his priority is on being the best defender he can be, and he has earned the respect of one of the toughest competitors of the 21st century.
