Victor Wembanyama Shows Veteran Mindset, Says Personal Accomplishments Don't Mean Much If He Loses

San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama continues to do things that are rarely - if ever - seen on a basketball court. But until he starts winning, any spectacular individual performances won’t mean much to him.

In last night’s 113-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Wembanyama posted a rare "5x5" stat line. This means that a player records five or more points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He had 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks, becoming just the first player since Jusuf Nurkic in 2019 to post such a stat line.

Wembanyama continues to wow even the most casual of NBA fans. But he’s not wowing himself, not yet anyway.

The French superstar wants first and foremost to win games, that’s most important to him. If these stat lines don’t lead to wins, they mean nothing to him.

"I wonder if he did it in wins, not losses. To me, it’s secondary," Wembanyama said. "Hopefully, in the future, we can look back and think this is a good performance. As of today, I can’t be satisfied with a loss."

Most veterans in the NBA don’t play with a shred of the drive that this rookie plays with. They mostly care about winning fame, and leave the competition and desire to win as a secondary concern. It’s one of the many contributing factors to the decline of the NBA’s product.

Thankfully, guys like Wembanyama do exist. Eventually, he will start winning and make his mark in the league in a way that he will enjoy.

And the rest of us will appreciate his performances for him.