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The San Antonio Spurs, along with their French phenom Victor Wembanyama, have kicked off the 2025/26 season impressively, securing a 4–0 record following a 121–103 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
At just 21 years old, Wembanyama delivered another stellar performance, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. He also continued his extraordinary defensive prowess with yet another block—his 19th of the season.
Leading the league in blocked shots, he has already outperformed many teams in this category. Even more remarkable is that his recent block against the Raptors marked his 89th consecutive game with at least one rejection.
This achievement allowed Wembanyama to climb to fourth place on the all-time list, surpassing Patrick Ewing’s streak of 88 games. He now trails only Mark Eaton (94), Dikembe Mutombo (116), and Ewing’s record of 145 consecutive games with a block.
Following the victory against Toronto, Wembanyama was inquired if he purposefully seeks out blocks during games.
“I wouldn’t say that, because there are times when I’m pursuing blocks even after already recording six,” he replied, grinning. “It’s part of my role.”
Once more, opposing teams appeared hesitant to attack the basket when Wembanyama was in proximity, at times opting to throw the ball out of bounds rather than confront him. This leads the young star to assert that his defensive influence extends far beyond just blocks.
“Oh, absolutely. I believe I had a solid defensive outing—whether or not I recorded blocks,” he noted. “There are numerous ways to influence the game. It will become increasingly common for players to shy away from shooting.”
When a reporter proposed tracking a statistic like “drives deterred” to quantify how often opponents decide against challenging him, Wembanyama concurred.
“Yeah, that’s a fantastic idea. We do extensive video analysis with Sean Sweeney to review various situations,” he said. “Often, even before a shot is taken—before the need to block it arises—there are strategies we can implement ahead of time.”
