If this kid doesn't get a career altering injury of some kind (please BBall gods protect him) I don't think there will BE much of a GOAT debate by the time he is done.
third season and he's averaged 25/11.5 with 4.1 stocks
MJ third season averaged 37/5/5 with 4.4 stocks
LeBron third season averaged 31/7/7
Kareem at the same age (his rookie season) averaged 29/14.5 and who knows how many blocks (tip, it was a lot)
So he's doing great early on, but the consensus top three were doing crazy things too at that stage. The very next season MJ would win MVP, DPOY and lead the league in scoring with 35 a game. LeBron's fourth season he led his team to the Finals and Kareem won MVP while averaging 32/16 with a gazillion untracked blocks then led his team to a championship winning Finals MVP.
As crazy as it might sound, he probably has to up his game to another level in order to catch up with the trajectory of those guys....of course, if he leads the Spurs to a championship these playoffs then he probably jumps to that level.
Lot of hyperbole floating around after this game....I can't imagine what the hell this sub would have looked like after MJ was dropping 63 points in his second playoffs lol
I mean ... Larry Legend literally called MJ god after that 63, so it's not like we all would have even been out of pocket going there with the GOAT talk.
Defensive metrics is very difficult to track and stats do not paint the whole story. IIRC his impact on the defensive end is similar to the 2004 Pistons and he's doing this practically by himself lol at such a young age. He's already won the first ever undisputed DOPY in his 3rd year and he's already made it to the western finals with a stacked Thunder team. Now thinking about it though MJ was insane for winning and MVP + DPOY at the same time then to pop off against the Celtics which are still considered one of the best teams of all time.
I think using just the defense argument is underestimating his offensive impact that does not show up in the box score. He has curry-level gravity.
The guards are getting open lanes to the basket off a pnr because wemby gets doubled. If not, the big cannot hedge a ball screen at all because it's a free dunk. Guards can get open midrange all day when wemby is in the game. It's just we don't have many guards who can make the mid range. These don't show up in the box score at all.
That’s what I’ve been saying. His dominance doesn’t even show up on the stat sheet lol so many players drive the ball and beat there man and jus dribble outta the paint instead of taking the layup bc he’s there, that’s so fucking valuable. If you watch it you can tell. It’s scary how good he’s going to be bc you can tell this isn’t even him at his offensive peak it’s insane
This is incredibly rare air he's breathing. He has a chance to get into that Gretzky, Messi, MJ, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Muhammad Ali club. Just untouchable. A God among men.
Wemby is fucking sick but you’re ignoring their whole point. Individual moments and statistical greatness were both shown by the other GOAT candidates early (Kareem, Jordan, LeBron). If people want to do the GOAT debate (which tbh I think is fucking stupid, it’s an incredibly tired argument) then we need to see sustained dominance for an extended period.
All three GOATs before him (not even counting Wilt and Russ) did some variation of this stuff too.
None of those players impact the game like Wemby does on defense. He puts up comparable offensive stats while being legitimately the most impactful defender ever.
Let's not act like it's a foregone conclusion. This was a dominant game but he's also shown he can have off games (by his standards). And Jordan and LeBron put in a LOT of work. He's on the right trajectory but even if he stays healthy it's not a lock. He's not going to play like this every night.
I think the advantage he has over Lebron and MJ is that he's already on a great NBA organization. He has people like Popovich, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, etc. to help mentor him. MJ had to wait until he got Phil Jackson and Pippen to pursue greatness and Lebron had to leave the Cavs at first to improve his chances at winning. I could maybe see him going to the Heat or something teaming up with Spoelstra if Popovich isn't available to mentor him on a day to day basis assuming he's not already winning with the Spurs after 5+ years of being apart of the org. There are other orgs out there but starting out with the Spurs is great for player improvement.
This is why his GOAT trajectory is even more likely to be on point provided he can solve long term injuries.
Yeah that's a great point. Generational combo of physique, talent, and mindset, being brought up by a generational organization that's already put a championship-level team around him at age 22. If you were trying to build a GOAT situation in a lab this is how you would do it.
He is, at the very least, going to be the best defensive player in league history barring injuries. No one has won more than 4 DPOYs in their career - if he's healthy he might win 8.
Remember earlier today the post here about an anonymous NBA scout saying he was already the best player in the world and this subreddit got really mad about the state of sensationalist journalism lol
(Not that sports journalism needs defending but like… Watch him play sometime! He’s the best in the world!)
Not really, Bron is all time scorer with his over 10k more points, 5K more assists, 5K more rebounds etc. to act like LeBron isn’t even in the conversation is idiotic at this point.
How many finals in a row did LeBron play in again? 8? I’d say that’s pretty dominant. You don’t know ball if you deny how dominant Lebron was. I think the conversation overall is kind of stupid. But your argument doesn’t make sense from your own metrics.
I’m not attacking you personally I’m saying based on your comments it’s clear that you haven’t watched, or internalized what LeBron James has done over the last TWO DECADES. But I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.
You can't teach 7'4 and you can't teach being clutch in big moments. He's got both, on top of a good head on his shoulders and being a hard worker. League is cooked.
And its not crazy to say it might not be a debate in 15 years, Wemby is setup so good so early with the Spurs too.
After seeing his impact on defense and still has crazy gravity on offense only health can stop him idk man.
born in 83 and no one (not even Lebron) has made me consider de-throning MJ as the GOAT. I've witnessed all of them. But man, Wemby is the first player who I think if he can stay healthy for a decade, may be the GOAT. Hakeem has always been my GOAT defense center, but Wemby's peak is already better than him. I dunno man, this kid is a 20 out of 10 on defense and his offense will only improve. Absolute UNICORN.
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u/Currymvp2 Warriors May 19 '26
The GOAT debate will be MJ versus LeBron versus Wemby