LOOK: Victor Wembanyama Stars in Bleacher Report's 'Hero Ball' Season 3 Premiere

Second-year San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama got a surprise feature in Bleacher Report's annual animated short series, which depicts him as the up-and-coming villain to beat in the Western Conference.

Matt Guzman | Oct 23, 2024

Feb 14, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) looks to move the ball past Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) during the fist quarter at the American Airlines Center. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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San Antonio Spurs

With a showdown set between Victor Wembanyama and Luka Dončić Thursday evening, the San Antonio Spurs will get a chance to show off their new roster against a bona fide Western-Conference opponent.

Last season, the Mavericks spoiled Wembanyama's NBA debut after surviving a late-game push from San Antonio. This year, they'll have home court and another chance to put the Spurs at 0-1, though the expectations are a little higher for both sides.

Wembanyama is looking to reach a new ceiling this season now that he has a year under his belt, while Dončić and company are hoping to reach the NBA Finals once more. Those are the short goals, however.

Bleacher Report, in its annual "Hero Ball" animated series, outlined some further reaching goals featuring both Dončić and the French Phenom.

"The age of Wembanyama is approaching," it declared, before introducing the Spurs' wunderkind as a towering slim figure taking control of "Playoff Mountain" after Gregg Popovich summoned a third Spurs era to overshadow the league's other stars.

The short largely follows Chris Paul, who is guiding Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid and Dončić through basketball purgatory. The three stars are told to escape through their championship windows before Wembanyama can get to them in a largely exaggerated showcase of special talents and poor French.

Afterward, Paul follows Wembanyama and Popovich through the Spurs' window under the guise that he'd get another shot at contending, though the rest is left unclear.

"Hero Ball' embraces its satire, and this one was certainly an example of it, but it does say something that Wembanyama seems to be portrayed as the up-and-coming "villain" to beat in the West.

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Published Oct 23, 2024

MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.