Damian Lillard on Victor Wembanyama potential: I can see him being the best player in the league soon because of his competitiveness

Damian Lillard moved up from No. 44 to No. 43 in the scoring all-time list after passing Bob Pettit -via HoopsHype / March 15, 2024

Eric Nehm: FINAL: Bucks 114, Sixers 105 – Antetokounmpo 32pts/10reb/7ast – Lopez 19pts/7reb/5ast/2blk – Lillard 17pts/3reb/9ast – Green 14pts/5reb The Bucks are now 43-24 on the season. -via Twitter @eric_nehm / March 14, 2024

So when we’ve had these talks in the past, the mood is typically pretty hopeful and optimistic. But this feels different, like a really challenging, probably frustrating, experience where you’re trying to push through and grow to get to where you all want to go. How different is this for you? Giannis Antetokounmpo: What do you mean? The Damian Lillard integration. The coaching situation. You’ve already talked about all the change and how you’ve never had to take on this much leadership before. Antetokounmpo: Yeah, it’s … it’s … it’s hard. I feel like for me, this has been the hardest season that I’ve played — not only physically, because I had the procedure done on my left knee in the end of June. And I had to get back to myself. I feel like when the season started, I wasn’t (myself). And the reason was that I hadn’t played basketball until like the second week of training (camp). I had to get back to being by myself. But emotionally, and mentally, it’s been draining. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s been extremely tough, from Coach Bud (Mike Budenholzer) being let go (after the Bucks fell to Miami in the first round of the playoffs) to Coach Griff (Adrian Griffin) coming in, being let go, then (interim) Coach Joe (Prunty) for three games, Coach Doc (Rivers) coming in, and then you have Dame. It’s been tough. But at the end of the day, I think when you face adversity in life, that’s when you excel the most. So I’m just trying to, as a leader, as a basketball player, as a person, just trying to do what I do, keep on enjoying the game of basketball, keep on hanging in there, keep on trying to improve my game, doing the right thing. And hopefully, step by step, I get where I want to go and I’m able to help the team get where we want to go. -via The Athletic / March 14, 2024

Tom Orsborn: Asked in French by @TheoQuintard about contending for the DPOY, Wemby responded with this: “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it’s no longer his turn.” -via Twitter @tom_orsborn / March 14, 2024

Justin Kubatko: Prior to this season, no NBA player had ever recorded at least 150 assists, 150 blocks, and 100 3P made in a season. Chet Holmgren became the first player to reach those marks, and fellow rookie Victor Wembanyama is one 3P made away from joining him. 🔗 statitudes.com pic.twitter.com/QLNXfCL2Im -via Twitter @jkubatko / March 14, 2024

On the floor, Wembanayama wanted to get a quick set of pregame stretches in. First, he did hip rotations with both legs. Then he stretched his 8-foot wingspan up as high as he could go before bringing both hands down, almost putting both palms on the court. One more hip rotation and he was good to go. Stretching is a part of the normal maintenance plan for the San Antonio Spurs rookie as the bumps and bruises of a typical NBA season begin to pile up. “No matter the circumstances, we have to do what we can and do it a lot because we are not going to have quality time all the time,” Wembanyama said of keeping his body ready. “For example, we might have to take a nap on the bus or eat snacks somewhere. Quality is always important, but we also have to do a lot of quantity to be game ready; ice, pressure, everything.” -via ESPN / March 14, 2024