Heat Central: Neon: Who you got in a 1v1 you or Wemby?
Giannis: Me. All day. All day — 7/6/2026
x.com
The primary reason the Lakers likely chose Kessler over offering a max deal to Detroit Pistons restricted free agent Jalen Duren is that Kessler is one of the NBA’s best rim protectors. He’s the kind of interior presence a team needs if it’s going to employ Dončić and Reaves on the perimeter as primary playmakers. In 2024-25, Kessler’s last full(ish) season, he contested 7.5 shots per game at the rim, according to NBA.com, which tied for the fifth-most in the league. On those shots, he allowed opponents to shoot just 54.8 percent. Among the 16 players in the league to contest at least six shots per game that season, that percentage ranked third behind only Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, who were the top two finalists for Defensive Player of the Year this season. In the three full seasons he has played, Kessler has blocked at least 2.3 shots per game. — 7/2/2026
New York Times
Barack Obama: "I think Victor Wembanyama will end up being as good as we are projected. I watched him at the All-Star game. I was sitting there, first time I'd seen him live, and I don't remember somebody that that big moving like that. He's got to figure out what his go-to move is. He's got to put on some weight, he's got to work on his conditioning. Because he kept, you could tell he got tired, partly because it just looks to me like playing defense today is so much harder because you have to close out everything. So, it used to be, you're Victor Wembanyama, you just plant yourself in the paint, and you're a rim protector. But I'm watching him on defense now, the way they're using him, he is like in the paint and then he's trying to close out a three-pointer." — 6/25/2026
YouTube
Tom Orsborn: Undersized guard
Ja’Kobi Gillespie says he’s already envisioned feeding Victor Wembanyama for lob dunks: “Yeah, for sure. Just throw it up there. That’s what it looks like.” — 6/25/2026
Bluesky
NBA Base:
Aday Mara on being called the "Wemby stopper". “Im ready yeah, I don't know how yet. But I will do it” (Via @SInow) — 6/24/2026
x.com
?NBA Stat?: Summer plans:
Victor Wembanyama arrives at the Louis Vuitton Men’s Show in Paris. #NBA — 6/24/2026
Bluesky
Adam Silver: “Maybe not every single season, but your view is, regardless of the market size, if your team is well-managed, if you have a little bit of luck in there, you have a good chance to be in the playoffs and potentially be the champion. And so I think what we’ve seen is societal changes; I think that nobody’s going to say that Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio can’t get global attention because it’s a smaller market.” — 6/24/2026
Awful Announcing
Jake Fischer:
The 7-foot-3 Mara has been billed as a potential Victor Wembanyama stopper. Pretty perfect for him to go to this Thunder team that could certainly use one. — 6/23/2026
x.com
Justin Martinez: Aday Mara on being viewed as a potential Victor Wembanyama stopper:
"Obviously, it's not a bad thing to hear. I think it's going to take time for adjustment, but I'm excited. I'm excited to play against him (and) obviously to play in the NBA. But I feel like I'm going to play against him a lot. If it's not in the NBA, it's going to be on the national team. So I'm excited to get ready to play against him." — 6/23/2026
x.com
In a recent appearance on the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, Jose Alvarado also expressed disappointment with how Victor Wembanyama did not even shake his and the New York Knicks' hands after the 2026 NBA Finals. "Wemby is a great player. ... I mean, I got mixed emotions.
I'm a competitor too, but I also like to stare my enemies down. I look forward to them, and I shake their hand. Obviously, it's a game. You don't like the moment you lost your pride, the biggest game of your career, but you're gonna have more moments," Alvarado argued. "I feel like the way he did it was a little too crazy for me because I loved how he competed during the game. "Obviously, people didn't like how he was being aggressive, but bro, we wanna fight, we fight for something. Between the lines, I feel like anything is cool. Outside the line, shake your hand, shake hands, and call it what it is." — 6/21/2026
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