Victor Wembanyama wows as Spurs roll over miserable Mavs

Victor Wembanyama returned with a bang, and says there is even more to come.

The Frenchman made his long-awaited comeback from deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder to power the San Antonio Spurs to a season-opening 125-92 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

He became the first player since 1977-78 to score 40 points with 15 rebounds and three blocks with no turnovers while shooting 70% from the field in a remarkable all-round display that was too much for the home team.

WHAT A STATEMENT from Wemby to open Year 3!

40 PTS
15-21 FGM
15 REB
3 BLK
W

The first player with 40+ PTS, 15+ REB and 0 TO while shooting 70+ FG% since TOs have been tracked (1977-78) 🤯 pic.twitter.com/1bbJo57bDJ

— NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2025

After a summer that saw Wembanyama spend time time with monks in China and train with former NBA stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett, he returned a man transformed.

“[I was] much more in control of myself,” Wembanyama told ESPN. “The mind, I’m not worried about [that] because I saw what it’s like to be confronted with potentially losing a lot, whether it’s your career or your health. So, I’m not taking this for granted anymore. The body? I’m having more fun now that I’m not struggling to move as much. I know I still need to get better, and I’m still going to get better.”

This is what we’ve been working for – Wemby

That is an ominous prospect for the rest of the league. If he can stay fit, then Wembanyama and the Spurs will be a tough team to overcome.

“It feels like every day we try to lay a brick to build a huge mansion, and it felt like the job was done for the day,” Wembanyama added. 

“This is what we’ve been working for. This is what we’ve struggled for, for so long, and I just felt like it fits. I felt like I was in my place. We needed to make a statement in our locker room. The feeling really was that there wasn’t anything we really could have done more to help us today. It felt like we did everything we needed to do. 

“We felt ready and we felt like we wouldn’t have any regret about things we should have worked on or things we should have done in the summer. I was comfortable with the work we put in and with the preparation up to this point. Now all the dice are thrown in the Western Conference.”

Flagg overshadowed as Mavs struggle

It was a tough welcome to the NBA for number one draft pick Cooper Flagg, whose overriding emotion was one of amazement at Wembanyama.

“He is incredible. He is a different player,” Flagg said. “You can’t know what it’s like until you’re out there on the court with him. It’s something I’ve never seen before. He was great tonight, but we’ve got to do a better job of trying to just take away some of his looks and we can’t foul him as much as we did.”

As for his own performance, Flagg struggled, scoring 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

“Not great,” Flagg said when asked to assess his display. “Obviously, didn’t play incredibly well, but we’ve got to move past it, turn our focus and start looking toward Friday [against Washington].”

Flagg received support from team-mate Anthony Davis, who top-scored for the Mavs with 22 points.

“Game one. I mean, he’s still a rookie,” said Davis. “You’re coming in and preseason was obviously good, but when that game one comes around [in a] packed stadium, national TV game … I’m not sure if he’s a social media guy or not, but you saw it – everything was No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and Wemby match up and all this stuff. So you start hearing it, and I’m not sure if it got to him, but it’s first-game jitters when it’s time for the real thing. So he’ll be fine.”