Victor Wembanyama handles the ball against Oso Ighodaro of the Suns during the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center on Monday. The Spurs center tied an NBA mark with 40 points in only 25 minutes. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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PHOENIX –- I have seen the NBA’s future and its name is Victor Wembanyama.

The Spurs center completely dominated the Suns on Monday night becoming only the second player in league history to record 40 points in 25 minutes or less. The other is Sleepy Floyd who did it on Feb. 26, 1991, for the Rockets against the Nuggets.

Some of the game’s greatest players have played in the 35 years since then and didn’t do it. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, just to name a few.

The game is slowing down for Wemby, his coach Mitch Johnson said, “allowing the game to unfold naturally.”

“I would hope it would,” Wemby said during a postgame media conference after he sat out most of the fourth quarter as the Spurs clobbered the Suns, 122-96. “That’s part of the progression.”

Wemby added 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots just to complete the debacle. He was all over the court, hitting 15 of 19 shots from all ranges, including a couple of threes. He crashed the basket both on offense and defense and was basically unstoppable.

“He just does it from all three levels right now,” Suns second-year coach Jordan Ott said afterward. “And then any time they switch him they just literally throw the ball to the top of the back board, so when he starts to go it’s just so deflating, and it’s really hard to overcome.”

Tell me about it.

Wembanyama is a wiry 7-foot-4 with an elastic Gumby-like body that defies all logic. He’s still only 22 years old – think about that – and already in his fourth season coming off a five-game loss to the Knicks in the NBA Finals earlier this year. The loss to the Knicks was just another learning experience.

“It meant a lot,” he said. “The playoffs and the Finals and the high stakes exposes a lot of things. Both to myself and my opponents. It shows what you clearly have to work on.”

Wemby Is A Stand Out At An Endangered NBA Position

He’s growing in leaps and bounds, playing in an era with a dearth of high-quality NBA centers, defying not only logic, but gravity.

“I should keep the physically amazing things for the amazingly difficult situations,” he said. “Opponents can’t put me in the situation where they don’t have an answer. So all I have to do is not beat myself, stopping myself from success.”

Centers used to dominate the NBA. How about the 1980s? Try Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ralph Sampson, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and later even Shag and Yao Ming.

Or the 1960s into the 1970s when every team seemed to have a Hall of Famer: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed, Nate Thurmond, Bob Lanier, Zelmo Beatty, and Bill Walton. The low post game was commonplace.

In today’s NBA with the reliance on three-point baskets, there’s no low-post game. The Suns have two young centers – Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach – but Ott doesn’t run any plays for them. It’s not part of the Suns’ pick-and-roll toss the ball out to the stripe for open threes offense. Defensively, they couldn’t contain Wemby.

“I didn’t want them to take out my legs,” he said. “I figured since they were two smalls I’d have them chase me in the air if they wanted to. They didn’t.”

The long-term best center in the game, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, is an accomplished three-point shooter at 36%. He’s won three league MVPs and the 2023 championship in his 12 seasons. In comparison to Wemby, he’s a smallish, 6-11.

Wemby, who makes 34% of his threes overall and averages 30 points and 12 rebounds a game this season, is just getting started, but is on t he verge of becoming the league’s pre-eminent center.

“It feels like where I want to be,” he said. “There are still a lot of things I want to do. I need to get better first. As the years go on and my condition gets better I just need to keep getting better on both sides of the floor. Sometimes it’s a lot to do well on both sides of the floor.

“Age, conditioning, experience helps me get better. I’m just going to keep exploring, and innovating. Those things are important to me.”

Wemby Surprised Fans By Playing Chess In A New York Park

Wemby is not your average NBA player. He has a penchant for playing chess, which is certainly an intricate thinking person’s game with all kinds of nuances, tactics and strategies. He loves to play in public settings with kids and fans and has done so in places like New York and Paris.

Two years ago, in New York, for instance, he asked on social media what the best place was to play in the city. After assembling the information, he posted to meet people at the south corner of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Despite rain and a blustery day, he played multiple matches from 10 am to 11 am losing twice and winning a pair before the Spurs took a flight to Minnesota, wearing a grey hoodie and white-pleated jacket. He had a big smile on his face.

“We need a players only chess tournament, proceeds going to the charity of choice of the winner,” he posted on social media after the morning session during which he posed for dozens of photos with fans.

That yet hasn’t come to fruition.

It was impromptu and most NBA players aren’t doing that. But most players don’t display the variety of talent, Wembanyama has, either.

“He has so many weapons in his bag and there are so many options on the menu, his maturity and understanding and decision making in those moments are at the utmost of importance,” Johnson said. “The game is slowing down for him. I know it’s an oxymoron, but when you recognize things quicker the game actually slows down.

“And then you put his talent and skill set on top of that with a high level of execution, you can really put a defense in a tough spot.”

The sky, as they say, is the limit.