Victor Wembanyama Took an Alley-Oop From His Teammate’s Hands, Slammed It Home

The Spurs rookie is already cleaning up his squad's messes.

If you throw an errant alley-oop, having a seven-foot-four power forward around to atone for your mistake is a nice luxury.

Spurs forward Keldon Johnson found that out firsthand Friday evening against the Rockets.

With 9:45 left in the first quarter, Johnson caught Houston's defense napping and tossed a lob to San Antonio forward Jeremy Sochan. As Sochan struggled to corral the high pass, Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama wrested the ball out of his hands and calmly put it in the basket to give San Antonio a 4–2 lead.

Even Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had to chuckle as Wembanyama and company made their way back to the bench.

Victor Wembanyama took this oop for himself 😆

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/zXhbOnWBeY

— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) October 28, 2023

Wembanyama, whose rookie season ranks among the most hotly anticipated in NBA history, scored 15 points and pulled down five rebounds as San Antonio lost his debut 126–119 to the Mavericks Wednesday.

As the Spurs’ commentary team said of his alley-oop: “Just throw it to the top of the arena and that young man will go and get it.”