Victor Wembanyama has steamrolled the Spurs into a 3-0 start to the season. The most recent win came in San Antonio’s home victory over the Brooklyn Nets. He is virtually unstoppable. This offseason, we saw him go back and forth with his training. He did everything. Trained under elite specialist Hakeem Olajuwon? Yes. Traveled to China to study Shaolin-temple methods? Yes. He is building as if this is the season to win a championship. But do you know the reason behind Wemby’s towering efforts? What really motivates Wembanyama?

Marc J. Spears has given an intriguing reason behind Wemby’s transition. “Yeah, they’ve been going back to under 20s, under 18 even right and check out a championship when he doesn’t have a champion so I was told by somebody inside that room That Wimby is motivated By Chet having one-up on him On the Championship.”

The Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren rivalry goes back to their draft-era comparisons. Especially in the early-career, both drew attention as generational big men. While there is no personal rivalry between the two, they are just similar, in build, in position, in conference and sometimes even in stats. Currently both OKC and SAS are on a 3-0 win streak. This is largely due to the strength of the two big men that both teams boast about. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren and the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, do mirror each other on the court.

Here’s how their early-season production compares through three games this year:

So the comparison will remain but Holmgren has something Wemby does not. Yes, it is the NBA championship win that Holmgren has with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Will Wemby finally succeed this year?

After getting a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder in February, the 2023-24 NBA Rookie of the Year, was on “a journey to push himself to be great physically and mentally with things that were outside the box.”

That journey for him meant going beyond basketball. He played soccer in Costa Rica and Tokyo to test his footwork. Even hosted a chess-and-basketball tournament on his home court in Le Chesnay in France.

But perhaps the most profound experience for him came through his training under Hakeem Olajuwon. Then his 10-day stay at a Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou, China. He shaved his head, shed his western clothing to put on a monk’s cloak in grey. He immersed himself in the monks’ meditative lifestyle, seeking both healing and renewal. “The traumatic experience … is very much linked to all the stuff I’ve done in the summer,” Wembanyama had reflected.

Victor Wembanyama named Western Conference player of the week

“I feel like I need to play basketball now,” Wembanyama had said at Spurs media day. “Obviously, I’ve played basketball almost all summer. But, on my body, there’s only so many steps that I’m going to pass in the summer. I’m only going to get so much better, and I think I’ve maxed out what I can do in one summer. And now I need to play basketball and work on my skills and as a team tactically. So yeah, I want to play and I miss it.” And he is not only playing but dominating the court, putting spectators at awe. He is just that good. And talent always gets recognition.

The NBA has officially named Victor Wembanyama the Western Conference Player of the Week, marking the 21-year-old’s second career selection for the honor. But his first of the 2025-26 season. And this is just the first week of him being on the floor, three games in.

Through three games, Wembanyama gave the Spurs their best winning streak since the 2019-20 season.  He also etched his name into the record books as the first player in NBA history to record 100+ points, 40+ rebounds, and 15+ blocks across three contests. Whatever his motivation might be, he is creating a legacy with each game. He is already the favorite MVP contender this year. The drive to one-up Chet may put him forward in the race of the championship this year

Next stop? The Spurs will be hosting the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. Monday at the Frost Bank Center, San Antonio. Yet the Spurs do not face the OKC until December, so the clash up between Wemby and Chet Holmgren is highly awaited.