Welcome back to NBA Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the players getting the most buzz around the league. Inclusion on this list isn’t necessarily a good thing — it simply means you’re capturing the NBA world’s attention. This is also not a ranking. The players listed are in no particular order. This column will run every week throughout the regular season.
Wembanyama hasn’t been the best rookie; that early designation, for my money belongs to Chet Holmgren, whom we’ll get to later. That doesn’t mean Wembanyama hasn’t been sensational to start his NBA career, and he’s certainly generated more buzz than Holmgren or probably anyone else in the league thus far.
Through seven games, Wemby is averaging 19.4 points. 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game on 46/32/75 shooting splits (57% true shooting). He already looks like a DPOY candidate; his 18 total blocked shots are second only to Anthony Davis’ 23, and he’s probably discouraged at least that many other shots.
Wemby’s early signature performance was the 38 points he put on the Phoenix Suns as the Spurs got the win. He was off the charts, particularly in crunch time, in upstaging Kevin Durant in just his fifth NBA game.
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