Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Fournier, Harper, Fox
Could Victor Wembanyama match Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary feat of scoring 100 points in a game? The Spurs star has apparently given it some thought, and he expressed confidence that he could in a question-and-answer session with the French content creator Rookicks (Twitter link, hat tip to BasketNews).
Wembanyama responded, “I agree, yeah” when asked about the possibility of a future 100-point night. His career high so far is 50, which he reached against Washington in 2024. BasketNews notes that he appeared to be on the way to topping that mark in a February meeting with the Lakers when he posted 25 points in the first eight minutes and had 37 at halftime. However, he didn’t play much after intermission as San Antonio pulled away and only added three more points to that total.
Chamberlain’s record hasn’t been seriously challenged for more than six decades since he set it against New York on March 2, 1962. Kobe Bryant was in second place for 20 years after scoring 81 in 2006, but Bam Adebayo eclipsed that with 83 points in March.
There’s more on the Spurs:
- Also in the interview, Wembanyama mentions Evan Fournier as the French player he’d most like to have as an NBA teammate. Fournier won MVP honors this spring as Olympiacos captured both the EuroLeague final four and the Greek league finals, but a return to North America doesn’t seem likely for the 33-year-old guard. Fournier played 12 NBA seasons before heading back to Europe in 2024. He indicated in March that he plans to retire after his current contract expires in 2028.
- ESPN addresses several Spurs topics in an early season preview, including the possibility that second-year guard Dylan Harper might be ready to replace De’Aaron Fox in the starting lineup. Team sources tell Michael C. Wright that the commitment to Fox remains strong, even though he struggled through the NBA Finals. Those sources point out that the team wouldn’t gone that far without Fox, who was dealing with a high right ankle sprain in the late stages of the playoffs. Wright’s sources add that the final decision will be made by coach Mitch Johnson and will be determined by how both players perform. Wright notes that Johnson has talked about having Harper, Fox and Stephon Castle on the floor together more often, but that group produced a minus-26.9 net rating in 18 games last season.
- In the same piece, Ben Golliver compares Wembanyama’s decision to take less than the full amount in his new extension to the unselfishness displayed by Tim Duncan that helped build the Spurs’ last dynasty. Zach Kram gives the team an A for its offseason moves, which also included the addition of Tobias Harris in free agency.