Carmelo Anthony has compared Victor Wembanyama to Wilt Chamberlain, and the reason he gives is the shape of the Spurs' offense rather than the highlight numbers alone. According to TalkBasket's report, Anthony singled out the nine-game winning streak, the 45- and 54-point games and the 20-rebound performance as evidence that something unusual is happening.
The more interesting part of the argument is where Wembanyama is doing his damage. Anthony says the French center is spending more time establishing position near the basket, attacking defenders on the low block and finishing at the rim, rather than leaning on perimeter shots. If that reading is right, it changes the defensive problem. A big man who lives outside the arc asks a defense to choose between the rim and the shooting. A big man who arrives at the paint with a settled position asks a defense to solve a collision near the basket, and that is a harder question for most teams.
This is an opinion-driven pundit take, not a formal development. Anthony is offering a read on a trend, and the report does not include a Spurs statement, a coaching explanation or a documented change in role that would confirm the shift. What the piece does support is that Wembanyama's recent scoring has been concentrated inside, and that the Spurs have been winning while he does it. Whether the paint-first approach is a deliberate change or a product of matchups is something the source does not settle.
For the Spurs, the practical stake is simple: if the inside approach holds through the next stretch of games, opposing coaches will have to decide how much help to send into the post, and that decision costs something on the perimeter.
