Victor Wembanyama draws comparison to legendary NBA figure after historic triple-double
Victor Wembanyama had one of the best performances of his young career on Monday night.
The San Antonio Spurs rookie registered the second triple-double of his career after finishing with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a 122-99 win against the Toronto Raptors.
Wemby also finished with five assists, meaning he was just five dimes shy of notching a historic quadruple-double.
There are only four players in NBA history to record a quadruple-double.
Fellow San Antonio big man David Robinson was the last player to do it when posted 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks in 1994.
Another player to have recorded the unique stat-line is Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon.
READ MORE NBA
'The Dream' had 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks, and 10 assists in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks in 1990.
Olajuwon is one of the greatest players in NBA history, known as an elite shot-blocker with hypnotising footwork and a deft touch around the rim.
After Wembanyama's near quadruple-double on Monday, the Hakeem comparisons did the rounds on social media.
"Rookie Victor Wembanyama posting prime Hakeem numbers at TWENTY years old", one person said.
Most read in Basketball
"wemby doin tim duncan and hakeem s*** all in one btw," added another.
"A 10 block triple double. The only guy I have ever seen put up numbers with the offense like this is Hakeem Olajuwon in his prime," added a third.
Others think it's only a matter of time before the San Antonio star notches a quadruple-double.
"I said it before, but now it's pretty obvious that at some point he's going to have a quadruple double," one fan wrote.
While the French phenom didn't quite match Hakeem's quadruple-double, he did equal him in another regard.
With his performance against the Raptors, Wembanyama is only the third player in NBA to record 25+ points, 10+ rebounds, 10+ blocks, and 5+ assists.
The other two players are David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Wemby is the first player to do it since Olajuwon in 1996.
Moreover, the Spurs youngster became the first player in NBA history with a 20-point, 10-block triple-double in fewer than 30 minutes.
It was also the first triple-double with blocks since 2021 when Clint Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 blocks for the Atlanta Hawks.
Victor is more than halfway through his debut season in the NBA and is producing performances, and stat-lines, usually reserved for Hall of Famers.
His potential and career trajectory is frightening, but Wemby isn't getting too ahead of himself and made sure to stay humble following his latest performance.
When asked if he was thinking about the quarduple-double during the game, he told reporters: "As a second thought, yes.
"But I was trying to win first. I almost got a quintuple-double with turnovers too," he joked referencing the fact he finished the night with seven turnovers.
Through 48 games, Wembanyama is averaging 20.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.2 blocks per game.
Read More on talkSPORT
He is also a strong favourite to win Rookie of the Year despite the Spurs boasting a 11-43 record.
For all of Wemby's best efforts the Spurs remain rock bottom of the Western Conference.