There will be a lot of eyes on the San Antonio Spurs this season — including from fans, thanks to a lot of early nationally televised games — and there will be a lot of questions.
One of those questions: How much did Jeremy Sochan influence Victor Wembanyama’s new look?
Wemby's new look 👀
— NBA (@NBA) August 14, 2023
(via jeremysochan/IG) pic.twitter.com/6THz2asZsG
Sochan discussed it with Bryan Kalbrosky of USA Today’s For The Win.
“I had zero influence! I didn’t tell him to do it. There was no bet. He just one day asked me for my contact for who does my hair. I was like, “OK, I’ll send it to you.” A few days later, he had the hair.”
Another, more important question for the Spurs: How good is the current supporting cast around Victor Wembanyama? Sochan loves his fit with the much-hyped French rookie.
“I think it’s going to be scary. Defensively, it’s going to be hard to score against us. We are long. We’re pesky. Offensively, I’m going to be able to find him, and I think the beautiful thing about it is whoever gets the board, just push it. There is no need to pause after getting the defensive board. The way we want to play is: Whoever gets it, you run. You dribble the ball up. It’s going to make everything so much easier. It’s going to make it flow more. I think the potential on both sides is endless.”
Living up to that potential is the hard part.
Part of that is finding out how good Wembanyama will be over the coming years. Talk to people around the league about his floor (providing he stays healthy) and it’s still making a few All-Star Games and being an All-Defensive Team regular. The ceiling is as high as it’s been for anyone to play the game. Landing with a Spurs team that will not play along with the external hype machine’s games might be the best thing that’s happened to Wembanyama, he will have space to grow at his own pace.
Can the others on the Spurs roster grow with him? Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and the rest will have their chance, including Sochan. He averaged 11 points and 5.3 rebounds a game, and showed real defensive promise for a rookie. He made the All-Rookie Team.
Sochan is right about the potential, he and Wembanyama could form a powerful — and colorful — front line in San Antonio for a long time. However, right now it is all potential. Both have the drive and desire to fulfill that potential, but that is a long road and the Spurs are just at the start of it.
