Carmelo Anthony Questions Victor Wembanyama After Spurs Opening Loss

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama faced heavy scrutiny from NBA legend Carmelo Anthony following a rough opening night performance in a 116-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite opening the new campaign with high expectations and leading early MVP betting markets, Wembanyama struggled immensely on the offensive end during Tuesday's game.

During an episode of "7PM in Brooklyn," Anthony questioned what the 7-foot-4 star worked on during the offseason. Anthony noted that while he observed attempts to get to the elbows, mid-post, and face-up positions, he did not see a newly developed offensive skill set that should accompany a player of Wembanyama's stature.

"What have you worked on skill-set-wise?" Anthony asked on the show. "As somebody who went through that and always tried to figure out how to get better every summer, I have to work on — and this is why skill set is so important. And again, this is the first game, but in that first game, I didn't see any developed skill set."

Anthony specifically emphasized the importance of developing a traditional post-up game, mentioning that players of extraordinary height must possess back-to-the-basket moves like right and left hooks. He stated that ball handling and perimeter scoring are great additional assets, but a reliable post game should serve as a fundamental pillar.

During the opening matchup, Wembanyama endured one of the worst shooting nights of his career, connecting on just one of 13 attempts from the field and relying largely on free throws to secure his points. His struggles were compounded by Oklahoma City's physical interior defense, which featured Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and 7-foot-2 rookie Aday Mara.

Even with his offensive struggles, Wembanyama still heavily impacted the defensive end and the glass by pulling down 13 rebounds and blocking six shots. However, his overall performance was not enough to prevent the Spurs from dropping their season opener to their Western Conference rivals.

Wembanyama spent his summer preparing extensively, including training sessions with Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon for the second consecutive year, workouts in Houston with De'Aaron Fox and teammates, private sessions in Paris, and even rugby drills to improve his balance. Whether this extensive offseason work translates into an improved offensive repertoire will remain a major storyline as the season progresses.