Spurs rookie and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama squared off with his basketball hero for the first time on Thursday, when Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks battled their way to a 125-121 road win.
And Wembanyama’s hoops hero walked away impressed.
“He’s special,” Antetokounmpo told reporters about Wembanyama. “He’s going to be an extremely good player. He plays the right way. He plays to win. I’ve never seen anything like him.”
Antetokounmpo finished with 44 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 39 minutes. Wembanyama had 27 points, 9 rebounds and a whopping five blocks in 26 minutes.
Wembanyama is still on a minutes restriction after suffering an ankle injury. It’s supposed to be 24 minutes, though he’s gone a couple of minutes over that recently.
He said he did indeed look forward to going up against Antetokounmpo and the mighty Bucks.
“It’s always extra motivation, and I know I’m a competitor,” Wembanyama said. “So I want to go at everyone and be the bad guy on the court. So it was a great matchup.”
Added Bucks coach Adrian Griffin: “Two of the most unique, talented big men. I use that [big-man term] loosely because they are very versatile players. Man, that was fun. I thought Wemby was great. I thought Giannis was phenomenal.”
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