Even the Lakers were left amazed by Victor Wembanyama

After achieving one of the rarest NBA statistical feats, the Lakers were left amazed by Victor Wembanyama.

There is something particularly enjoyable about seeing a player live up to the hype to the degree that Victor Wembanyama has. In fact, despite coming in with some of the most hype we’ve ever seen for a prospect, Wemby is somehow surpassing it.

There is no greater evidence of that than his stat line on Friday against the Lakers. The Spurs big man finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks, or a rare 5x5.

For context, Wemby’s 5x5 is just the fifth since 2006 and first since Jusuf Nurkic in 2019. Anthony Davis is one of 15 players now in NBA history to achieve a 5x5, doing his in 2018. By doing it as a rookie, Wemby became the second first-year player to do it, joining the illustrious Jamaal Tinsley.

After the game, the Lakers were just as impressed by Wemby as the fans were.

“I just told Pop after the game, the thing that impresses me the most about him – he’s uber-talented, multi-faceted, highly-skilled – but his biggest trait and quality that you can’t teach or coach is his competitive nature,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. “He’s a competitive kid and he makes winning plays all the time. You see how he plays with his teammates, he’s trying to make the right play whether it’s for himself or for the others that’s out there with him…Those two intangibles, the ability to stay that competitive possession by possession and also making winning plays, I think for me, personally, is the most (impressive) thing about him.”

One of the only other players to both have as much hype and live up to it as Wemby has is LeBron, who tweeted his thoughts on the youngster late Friday night.

“He doesn’t have a ceiling,” LeBron said in his postgame presser. “He could do whatever he wants to do with his career. Seems like he enjoys the game, seems like he puts in the work, just from the outside looking in…I said it a long time ago how special he was. It’s literally that simple.

“You’ve got guys in our league you have to account for anytime you get around the rim or around the perimeter in our league history and he’s right around the top (of the list) with all the greats.”

Wemby isn’t the first to come in and make an impact as a rookie right away. LeBron mentioned the likes of Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, AD, Blake Griffin and Tyreke Evans as others before Wemby who have made big impacts as a rookie. But there’s still something that sets Wemby apart.

“He’s one of them to have a stellar rookie season,” LeBron said. “But can you sustain it? I think the one thing that Wemby has above all the guys that I named is his length. You see how tall he is and his length. (Anthony Davis) possesses a lot of length and he’s even more than AD. So, that’s what makes it a little bit different. But let’s not get it twisted; he’s special, but he’s not the first guy to make an impact in this league as a rookie.”

While LeBron had the perspective to offer insight into Wemby’s hot start, that wasn’t the approach every Laker had to Wemby postgame.

Austin Reaves, for example, seemed utterly befuddled by how to score on Wemby.

In three games against the Lakers, Wemby now has 13 blocks against the purple and gold. Nearly one-third of those (four) have come against Reaves.

Fortunately for Reaves, the Lakers do not have any more matchups against Wemby and the Spurs this season. Hopefully, Reaves is able to figure out some answers before they meet again, but considering how rapidly Wemby is improving, he may already have more solutions.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.